title: Morphology of the distal thoracic duct and the right lymphatic duct in different head and neck pathologies: an imaging based study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of head and neck pathologies on the detection rate, configuration and diameter of the thoracic duct (TD) and right lymphatic duct (RLD) in computed tomography (CT) of the head and neck.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred ninety-seven patients were divided into the subgroups "healthy", "benign disease" and "malignant disease". The interpretation of the images was performed at a slice thickness of 3 mm in the axial and coronal plane. In each case we looked for the distal part of the TD and RLD respectively and subsequently evaluated their configuration (tubular, sacciform, dendritic) as well as their maximum diameter and correlated the results with age, gender and diagnosis group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The detection rate in the study population was 81.2 % for the TD and 64.2 % for the RLD and did not differ significantly in any of the subgroups. The predominant configuration was tubular. The configuration distribution did not differ significantly between the diagnosis groups. The mean diameter of the TD was 4.79 ± 2.41 mm and that of the RLD was 3.98 ± 1.96 mm. No significant influence of a diagnosis on the diameter could be determined.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is no significant influence of head/neck pathologies on the CT detection rate, morphology or size of the TD and RLD. However our study emphasizes that both the RLD and the TD are detectable in the majority of routine head and neck CTs and therefore reading physicians and radiologists should be familiar with their various imaging appearances.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Radiology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Maximiliansplatz 1, D-91054, Erlangen, Germany. ferdinand.kammerer@uk-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Ferdinand J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Kammerer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Radiology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Maximiliansplatz 1, D-91054, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schlude
authors.affiliation: Institute of Radiology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Maximiliansplatz 1, D-91054, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kuefner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Radiology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Maximiliansplatz 1, D-91054, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schlechtweg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Radiology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Maximiliansplatz 1, D-91054, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hammon
authors.affiliation: Institute of Radiology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Maximiliansplatz 1, D-91054, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uder
authors.affiliation: Institute of Radiology, University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Maximiliansplatz 1, D-91054, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Siegfried A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Schwab
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013897:Thoracic Duct / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media
keywords: Computed tomography; Distal thoracic duct; Head and neck pathologies; Right lymphatic duct