Superficial inflammatory and primary neoplastic lymphadenopathy: diagnostic accuracy of power-doppler sonography.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of a cut-off of the resistive index of 0.5 for the differentiation between inflammatory and neoplastic primary lymphadenopathies.


METHODS
We measured the resistive index of superficial enlarged lymph nodes in a total of 50 patients (29 males and 21 females; age range 12-72 years, mean age 41.6 year) using an ATL 5000 HDI. A resistive index greater than or equal to 0.5 indicated an inflammatory lymph node and a resistive index <0.5 was consistent with neoplastic primary lymphadenopathies. The gold standard was either surgical biopsy or lymph-node reduction seen with ultrasound examination after antibiotic therapy.


RESULTS
The sensitivity of the resistive index for distinguishing inflammatory from neoplastic lymphadenopathy was 84.6%, the specificity 100% and the diagnostic accuracy 95.7% (P < 0.001, statistically significant).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate that power-Doppler using a resistive index cut-off of 0.5 was a valid technique for distinguishing between inflammatory and primary neoplastic lymph nodes in patients with superficial lymphadenopathies.
Magarelli
N
N
Department of Radiology, University G. d'Annunzio, 667100 Chieti, Italy. n.magarelli@rad.unich.it
Guglielmi
G
G
Savastano
M
M
Toro
V
V
Sborgia
M
M
Fioritoni
G
G
Mattei
P A
PA
Steinbach
L
L
Bonomo
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008199:Lymphadenitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014655:Vascular Resistance
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents