Ultrasound-guided biopsy of superficial lymph node:an analysis of 308 patients

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of ultrasound-guided needle biopsy in diagnosis of enlarged lymph nodes by analyzing the data of 308 patients who received ultrasound-guided lymph node biopsy.Methods Data of 308 patients who underwent ultrasound-guided lymph node biopsy in the Oncology Center of Nanfang Hospital from Jan.1,2003 to Jun.30,2010 were collected.The age,sex,lymph node size and location,and pathological types of the patients were analysed.Simultaneously,the influence of lymph node size,location and pathological type on pathological diagnosis was studied.Results The average age of 308 patients,including 192 males and 116 females,was 53.4 years,ranging from 12 to 87 years.There were 307 satisfactory specimens from 308 cases with which definite histological diagnosis accuracy reaching 99.7%.In 232 cases malignancy was found(75.3%),benign lesions in 41(13.3%),false negative was found in 25(8.1%),and uncertain in 9(2.9%),poor specimen in 1(0.3%),and the diagnosis of malignant lymphoma was found in 82.8% of the first biopsy specimens.Conclusion Ultrasound-guided biopsy for superficial lymph node is a safe and effective method which can not be substituted in diagnosis of lymph node pathology.In addition,due to the use of 16G cutting needle,it also has better diagnostic value in the diagnosis of malignant lymphoma.