Differential diagnosis of lymphadenopathy: power Doppler vs color Doppler sonography.
Our objective was to compare color and power Doppler sonography of superficial lymph nodes. One hundred ninety-three lymph nodes in 161 patients were assessed by color and power Doppler sonography using standardized settings. We tested which modality displayed more intranodal vessels and checked if these differences would have altered the diagnosis. Additional vessels were seen by color Doppler sonography in 18 nodes and by power Doppler sonography in 58 nodes. Amongst those nodes were 15 nodes which showed no vascularization in color Doppler sonography and 23 nodes with only few intranodal flow signals; however, the better sensitivity of power Doppler sonography had no impact on the diagnosis in 42 of 58 nodes. Diagnostic confidence was increased in 7 nodes which showed normal vessels only in power Doppler sonography, although missing flow signals were defined as a benign finding. Pathological vessels were displayed only by power Doppler sonography in 9 nodes, but 6 of these 9 results proved to be false positive. Power Doppler sonography displays more intranodal flow signals than color Doppler sonography, but the diagnostic impact is low because of an increased risk of false-positive results.
Institut für Röntgendiagnostik, Universität Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Strasse 2, Germany. tschammler@roentgen.uni-wuerzburg.de
A
A
Tschammler
M
M
Beer
D
D
Hahn
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color