Small atypical cervical nodes detected on sonography in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
Source: Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine Author: Staff Probability of Metastasis Heung Cheol Kim, MD, Dae Young Yoon, MD, Suk Ki Chang, MD, Heon Han, MD, So Jung Oh, MD,Jin Hwan Kim, MD, Young-Soo Rho, MD, Hwoe Young Ahn, MD, Keon Ha Kim, MD andYoon Cheol Shin, MD Department of Radiology, Kangwon National University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea (H.C.K., H.H.); Department of Radiology, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea (H.C.K.); Departments of Radiology (D.Y.Y., S.K.C.) and Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (S.J.O., J.H.K., Y.-S.R., H.Y.A.), Ilsong Memorial Institute of Head and Neck Cancer, and Department of Thoracic Surgery (Y.C.S.), Kangdong Seong-Sim Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea; and Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (K.H.K.). Address correspondence to Dae Young Yoon, MD, Department of Radiology, Ilsong Memorial Institute of Head and Neck Cancer, Kangdong Seong-Sim Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, 445 Gil-dong, Kangdong-gu, Seoul 134-701, Korea. E-mail: [email protected] Objective. The purpose of this study was to assess the probability of metastasis of small atypical cervical lymph nodes detected on sonography in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck. Methods. We reviewed, retrospectively and blindly, sonographic findings of 148 patients (118 men and30 women; mean age, 58.2 years) who underwent curative neck dissection. Each lymph node was classified by using a 4-point scale: 1, definitely benign; 2, indeterminate (small [short-axis diameter <10 mm for levels I and II and <7 mm for levels III–VI] atypical node); 3, definitely metastatic; and [...]