[Color Doppler ultrasonic measurements of normal mesenteric lymph nodes in healthy children].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of color Doppler ultrasound in evaluating the mesenteric lymph nodes in healthy children. METHODS: The mesenteric lymph nodes were examined with color Doppler ultrasonography for 730 randomly selected healthy children under 14 years of age, including 410 boys and 298 girls who did not report any recent medical conditions. RESULTS: Abdominal lymph node detection rate was higher in boys than in girls. Abdominal lymph nodes were detected most often in children between the ages of 1 and 4 years, and the lymph node size decreased gradually with age. CONCLUSION: Color Doppler ultrasonography is valuable for evaluating abdominal lymph nodes in children.

[Enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes in children: a clinical analysis with ultrasonography and the implications].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes in healthy children with those children with mesenteric lymphadenitis. METHODS: According to the diagnostic criteria defining lymph node enlargement as a 5-mm enlargement or greater in the short diameter, 137 healthy children and 148 children with mesenteric lymphadenitis were retrospectively analyzed for mesenteric lymph node enlargement based on the ultrasonographic data. RESULTS: The distribution of enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes was detected in the right lower quadrant (RLQ) in 46.3%, in the para-aortic areas in 19.2%, and in the left lower quadrant (LLQ) in 13.6% of the children. The clusters of lymph nodes between the two groups showed no significant difference in the distribution, age, L/W, longitudinal diameter or clusters, only the short diameter differed significantly between them. CONCLUSION: Enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes are present in many healthy children, which does not necessarily suggests any abnormalities. The mesenteric lymph nodes increase with the age until 6 years and then decrease. The lymph nodes with a short diameter larger than 8 mm may indicate the condition of mesenteric lymphadenitis.