European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Introduction: Lymphadenopathy is defined as an abnormality in the size or character of the lymph node. It is caused by invasion or propagation of either inflammatory cells or neoplastic cells into the node. Cervical lymphadenopathy may be the sole clinical finding or may coexist with other non-specific findings and recognition of enlarged cervical lymphnodes will often unveil a spectrum of differential diagnosis. Aims: To evaluate sonographic features in cervical lymphadenopathy under different parameters, distribution of etiologies according to sonological parameters and sensitivity and specificity of different sonographic parameters in differentiating benign from malignant lymphadenopathy. Materials and Methods: The present study was an observational study with prospective component. This study was conducted for 18 months at department of Radiology, Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, Berhampore, West Bengal. Result: In the present study among malignant nodes 44% showed peripheral vascularity and 56% showed mixed pattern of vascularity. Echogenic hilum showed  89% and 77% sensitivity and specificity in differentiating malignant nodes with PPV and NPV of 44% and 97% respectively.. Conclusion: Different sonographic parameters have high sensitivity and specificity in differentiating malignant from benign nodes