Defining the lymph node burden in a northern european population without malignancy: the potential effect of geography in determining a need for fna?
Data from the USA suggest that morphological specificity is insufficient to permit an assumption of malignancy in nodal staging with endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). This may not hold true elsewhere as the background lymph node burden may vary in different geographic regions. We aimed to assess the prevalence and features of mediastinal and abdominal lymph nodes at EUS in a Northern European population without malignant disease. A total of 129 consecutive patients without malignant disease referred for radial EUS were prospectively evaluated for the prevalence and echo features of lymph nodes in the mediastinum and upper abdomen. Sixty-two percent of patients had mediastinal lymph nodes and 17% had abdominal nodes at EUS. A mean of 1.4 (standard deviation 1.3, range 0[ndash]
nodes were found... MedWorm Message: Find out how you can get your message across here by sponsoring this MedWorm news feed.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1442-2050.2008.00900.x
