Utility of Vascular Flow Pattern Evaluation Using Color Doppler, Power Doppler, and Microvascular Imaging in the Diagnosis of Cervical Lymph Node Diseases.

BACKGROUND

Vascular flow patterns within cervical lymph nodes vary significantly across inflammatory and neoplastic conditions.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study is to evaluate the role of color Doppler, power Doppler, and microvascular imaging (MVI) in characterizing lymph node vascularity and differentiating inflammatory from neoplastic lymphadenopathy.

METHODS

Thirty-five patients with palpable cervical lymphadenopathy underwent neck ultrasonography with gray-scale imaging, color Doppler, power Doppler, and MVI assessment. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was subsequently performed for pathological confirmation.

RESULTS

MVI demonstrated superior sensitivity (75.0% vs. 41.67%), negative predictive value (88.46% vs. 76.67%), and overall diagnostic accuracy (91.43% vs. 80.0%) compared with color and power Doppler techniques in detecting microvascular flow in cervical lymph nodes. Inflammatory lymph nodes predominantly exhibited central hilar vascularity or avascular patterns, whereas malignant nodes showed peripheral or mixed vascularity with evidence of neovascularization.

CONCLUSION

MVI significantly enhances diagnostic accuracy in evaluating cervical lymph nodes and provides superior microvascular visualization over conventional Doppler techniques and, hence, aids in identifying the most suspicious nodes for targeted FNAC or biopsy.