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Gray Scale and Power Doppler Sonography of Normal Cervical Lymph Nodes

Comparison Between Chinese and White Subjects

Department of Optometry and Radiography, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong (M.Y., F.B.); and Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging, Prince of Wales Hospital, New Territories, Hong Kong (A.A.)

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Michael Ying, Department of Optometry and Radiography, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Objective. To investigate the racial difference in gray scale and power Doppler sonography of cervical lymph nodes between white and Chinese subjects. Methods. Twenty healthy white subjects and 20 healthy Chinese subjects had sonographic examination of the neck. They were age and sex matched. Lymph nodes were evaluated for their number, size, site, echogenic hilus, vascular pattern, degree of vascularity, blood flow velocity, and vascular resistance. Results. A total of 184 lymph nodes were detected in the 20 white subjects, and 196 lymph nodes were found in the 20 Chinese subjects. There were no significant differences in the number, size, and distribution of the lymph nodes between the 2 populations. One hundred ninety-six region- and size-matched lymph nodes were selected from the 2 groups of subjects (98 nodes from each group) for evaluation of echogenic hilus, vascular pattern, degree of vascularity, blood flow velocity, and vascular resistance. There was no significant difference in the gray scale and vascular features of cervical nodes between white and Chinese subjects. Conclusions. There is no significant racial difference in the gray scale appearance of cervical lymph nodes. Unlike some other body regions, there is no significant vascular difference between white and Chinese populations. Results on power Doppler and gray scale sonographic assessment of cervical lymphadenopathy reported in previous studies may be applicable in both populations.

Key Words: gray scale • power Doppler sonography • cervical nodes • Chinese • white

Abbreviations: EDV, end-diastolic velocity • PI, pulsatility index • PSV, peak systolic velocity • RI, resistive index