Power doppler sonography of cervical lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancer

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of power Doppler sonography in differentiating metastatic from non-metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancer. Histologically proved metastatic [n=48] and non-metastatic [n=110] lymph nodes were examined with power Doppler sonography in 52 patients with head and neck cancer. Power Doppler sonography was assessed for its ability to differentiate metastatic from non-metastatic lymph nodes. Power Doppler sonography showed characteristic features of parenchymal blood, flow signal in 40 [84%] of the 48 metastatic lymph nodes. On the Other hand, only two [2%] of the 110 non-metastatic nodes showed these power Doppler signals. In addition, power Doppler sonography showed high levels of sensitivity [83%] and specificity [98%] in depicting metastatic lymph nodes, which were superior to the value [66% sensitivity and 92% specificity] obtained by applying size criteria [L/S ratio long axis short axis ratio of the enlarged lymph node]. Our results suggest that the power Doppler criteria combined with the size criteria [L/S ratio] constitute a powerful tool in differentiating metastatic from non-metastatic lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancer