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Introduction Cervical lymphadenopathy is a relatively common clinical presentation that can have varied causes including reactive, inflammatory, tubercular, or neoplastic etiologies. Sonography is most often the first line of investigation used in clinical practice to characterize the enlarged nodes with respect to their location, number, size, and morphological imaging characteristics and determine the differential etiological possibilities. Materials and Methods The present study was conducted involving 434 patients who presented over a period of 3 years to radiology departments of three multispecialty hospitals for the evaluation of cervical swellings. The study aimed to establish the correlation between the ultrasound and Doppler parameters used in clinical practice and the final histological diagnosis in cases of tubercular cervical lymphadenitis. Results Overall, a female predisposition was observed in the proportion of patients who presented with cervical lymphadenopathy. A similar increased female percentage was also observed in cases finally detected to have tubercular pathology. The highest diagnostic indices were obtained for two ultrasound parameters of “matted nodes” and “caseous necrosis with posterior acoustic enhancement.” Although other features such as hypoechoic nodes, Doppler findings of peripheral vascularity, and high resistive index (RI)/pulsatility index (PI) values demonstrated high sensitivity, they showed poor specificity, positive predictive values, and low accuracy. Conclusion In ultrasound scans for suspected cases of tubercular cervical lymphadenitis, the maximum weightage should be given to “matted nodes” and “caseous necrosis with posterior acoustic enhancement” parameters to differentiate the tubercular etiology from other potential causes. These parameters demonstrate high sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and accuracy. Hence, they can be relied upon to start timely anti-tubercular treatment and follow-up with patients on a clinical-radiological basis. This can supplement waiting for suboptimal cytology reports that are difficult to arrive at, specifically in tubercular cervical lymphadenitis cases. The same applies as well to biopsy specimens that are hard to obtain from cervical nodes with associated potential grave complications.

One hundred and twenty children with possible diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis were admitted in this study for evaluating the efficacy of short course chemotherapy regimens in childhood pulmonary tuberculosis and are under follow up. In only three patients smear was positive for AFB. In 74 cases culture for AFB was done of which 18 cases (24·3%) were found to be positive. Fortyone patients were put on a standard one year regimen consisting of streptomycin, isoniazide and ethambutol as a control group and seventy nine patients were put on short-course regimens, consisting of isoniazid, rifampicin and pyrizinamide. Out of these 79 patients, 39 were in a biweekly regimen consisting of isoniazid and rifampicin after initial intensive therapy with three drugs for two months. In majority of patients clinical improvement and in all patients bacteriological improvement was observed at the end of two months period. Marked radiological improvement at the end of therapy was seen in only about two-third patients. Relapse after stopping therapy occurred in one patient with associated tubercular cervical lymphadenitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]