title: Ultrasound evaluation of pelvic nodes in cervical carcinoma.
abstract: This is a retrospective analysis to assess the utility of ultrasound in assessing pelvic nodes in patients with cervical carcinoma. Seventy five patients who underwent radical hysterectomy with lymph node dissection in a three year period were included in the study and the pre-operative ultrasound findings were compared with the final pathological nodal status. Ultrasound examination had a sensitivity of 66.67%, a specificity of 78.33% and an accuracy of 76%. The positive predictive value was 43.5% and the negative predictive value was 90.4%. The sensitivity and positive predictive value are likely to be higher in more advanced stages of the disease where operative staging is rarely performed. Ultrasound can be a fairly accurate non invasive diagnostic test to assess the pelvic nodes besides assessing the local extent of the disease, the kidneys and the retroperitoneum.
authors.affiliation: MCh Student in Surgical Oncology, Cancer Institute, Adyar, Madras.
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Vijaykumar
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prahlad
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010388:Pelvis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery