Mesenteric lymph nodes
In the premultidetector CT era, mesenteric lymph nodes (often shortened to mesenteric nodes) were only really appreciated when enlarged. Following the advent of routine volume acquisition CT (and especially coronal reformats) lymph nodes in the mesentery are commonly seen in normal individuals, which has raised the obvious question of what counts as mesenteric nodal enlargement?
As with all such questions (e.g. size of common bile duct, size of pancreatic duct etc.), it is really a statistical question determined by:
- size distribution of normal nodes
- size distribution of pathological nodes
- desired sensitivity and specificity
As there is clearly a degree of overlap between the size of normal and abnormal nodes the literature is replete with various figures. Various upper limits of normal for short axis diameter include :
- 3 mm: too conservative, with 39% of normal individuals having nodes larger than this
- 4-5 mm: probably a reasonable compromise
- 9-11 mm: may miss many abnormal nodes
The other factor to consider is the number of nodes, which may be elevated in some hematological disorders without being enlarged .
See also
Siehe auch:
