Health

What imaging features may be useful to distinguish benign from malignant lymph nodes? Nodal size is one of the criteria used to differentiate reactive from malignant lymph nodes. Although larger nodes tend to have a higher incidence of malignancy, reactive nodes can be as large as malignant nodes, and therefore the use of a size …

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What are some causes of cervical lymphadenopathy? Cervical lymphadenopathy is common in patients with metastatic head and neck cancer or lymphoma and is also commonly found in patients with upper respiratory infections and systemic diseases. Although computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are also used to evaluate cervical lymph nodes, the internal architecture …

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What are some parathyroid gland pathologies that may occur? Parathyroid adenomas cause the affected parathyroid gland to appear solid and homogeneously hypoechoic as a result of compact cellularity and usually measure between 1 to 2 cm in greatest dimension. They are usually oval or bean shaped, but larger adenomas can be multilobulated and have cystic areas, …

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What is the most common congenital anomaly of the neck? The most common congenital anomaly of the neck is a thyroglossal duct cyst. The thyroglossal tract arises from the foramen cecum at the junction of the anterior two thirds and posterior one third of the tongue and runs to the level of the thyroid gland, …

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What types of thyroid cancer are there? Most thyroid cancers are well differentiated and have an excellent prognosis after surgical removal. Papillary cancer is the most common type, accounting for 80%, and pure follicular cancer is the second most common type, accounting for 10% to 15%. Medullary thyroid carcinomas arise from the parafollicular or C …

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How is Ultrasound useful to determine which thyroid nodules warrant FNA? US has relatively high specificity for identifying papillary thyroid cancers based on imaging features. If extension of a lesion beyond the thyroid capsule or if metastatic lymph nodes are present, a thyroid malignancy can be diagnosed. Current imaging guidelines require evaluation of the lateral …

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What proportion of focal thyroid nodules are cancerous? Approximately 20% of all focal nodules that are biopsied are neoplastic, with the majority due to benign follicular adenomas and the minority due to thyroid malignancy. Follicular adenomas are much more common in women and are usually incidentally detected when the patient is undergoing imaging of the …

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