Role of Sonoelastography in Differentiating Benign From Malignant Cervical Lymph Nodes and Correlating With Pathology

Background and aim Combined use of ultrasonography and elastography improves diagnostic efficacy in differentiating benign from malignant cervical lymph nodes, thereby helping in treatment planning and reducing unnecessary fine needle aspiration cytology/ biopsy. This study aimed to correlate B-mode ultrasonography, color Doppler imaging, and elastography findings with pathological findings and to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography and elastography. Material and methods Patients underwent ultrasonography (B-mode and color Doppler imaging) followed by elastography. Lymph node morphology on B-mode was assessed based on short axis diameter, short-to-long axis ratio, fatty hilum, echogenicity, and margin. Vascularity of lymph nodes on color Doppler imaging was divided into three patterns. On elastography, lymph nodes were defined based on elastography pattern and strain index. Results Among all ultrasonography parameters, fatty hilum was found to have the highest diagnostic accuracy (73%), followed by vascularity pattern (70%). Combined use of all ultrasonography parameters yielded better sensitivity (90%), specificity (88%), and diagnostic accuracy (89%) than individual parameters. Five-scale elastography pattern had 83% sensitivity, 97% specificity, and 89% diagnostic accuracy. In the current study, the use of strain index cut-off of two showed sensitivity of 93%, specificity of 96%, and diagnostic accuracy of 94%. Together, ultrasonography and elastography achieved sensitivity of 96%, specificity of 94%, and diagnostic accuracy of 95%. Conclusion Elastography can be a useful adjunct to ultrasonography for the accurate diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy. Elastography pattern and cut-off strain index of two can effectively differentiate benign from malignant cervical lymph nodes.