Correlation of Grayscale Ultrasound and Doppler Evaluation with Histopathological Diagnosis in Cases of Tubercular Cervical Lymphadenitis

ABSTRACT 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. 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. 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. 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.