Appearances of mediastinal and pulmonary hilar lymph nodes on thin-section CT: comparison with 5 mm slice thickness CT.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of thin-section CT of the mediastinum in the assessment of thoracic lymph nodes in comparison with conventional CT.


METHODS
A total of 193 CT examinations from 193 patients with suspected pulmonary disease were reconstructed into thin-section CT and conventional CT. The appearances of the lymph nodes were assessed and compared between thin-section CT and conventional CT.


RESULTS
Intranodal fat was more often detected on thin-section CT than on conventional CT (P<.001). There were no statistically significant differences in the frequencies of inhomogeneous enhancement and bulging margin of the hilar lymph node.


CONCLUSIONS
Thin-section CT can improve clinical N-staging of lung cancer due to classification of enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes as benign based on identification of intranodal fat.
Nambu
Atsushi
A
Department of Radiology, University of Yamanashi, Tamaho-cho, Nakakoma-gun, Yamanashi prefecture, Japan. nambu-a@gray.plala.or.jp
Kato
Satoshi
S
Saito
Akitoshi
A
Araki
Tsutomu
T
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
D003287:Contrast Media