Value of ultrasonography in differentiating malignant and benign superficial cervical lymph nodes

Objective To observe the value of ultrasonography in differentiating malignant and benign superficial cervical lymph nodes.Methods Totally 60 patients with superficial cervical lymphadenectasis underwent high-frequency ultrasonography.According to pathologic outcomes from the surgery or fine needle biopsy guided with ultrasound,the patients were divided into two groups:Benign lymph nodes group and malignant lymph nodes group,and their ultrasonic features were analyzed.Results Twenty-four patients were in benign lymph nodes group and 36 in malignant lymph nodes group.In malignant lymph nodes group,75.00%(27/36) of L/S were 2,75.00%(27/36) of the borderlines were blurred,97.22%(35/36) hilar disappeared,peripheral blood flow distribution could be observed in 55.56%(20/36) of them,central blood flow distribution accounted for 19.44%(7/36),and vessel resistance index(RI) were 0.76±0.13.There were statistically differences between the two groups(P0.05).Conclusion The ability to differentially diagnosing malignant and benign superficial cervical lymph nodes can be obviously enhanced with the combination of ultrasonography and fine needle biopsy guided with ultrasound.