Role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound guidance in core-needle biopsy for diagnosis of cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of core-needle biopsy (CNB) guided by contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis (CTL). Methods 178 patients with pathological confirmation of CTL were retrospectively enrolled. All of them had undergone CNB prior to the final surgery. According to the different ways of puncture guidance, they were divided into two groups: conventional ultrasound (US) group (n = 81) and CEUS group (n = 97). The comparison of diagnostic efficacy between two groups was compared and analyzed. Results Among the 178 patients, 146 were directly diagnosed as CTL by CNB, including 59 patients in CEUS group and 87 patients in US group. The diagnostic accuracy were 89.7% (87/97) and 72.8% (59/81), respectively (P 2.0 cm and ≤3.0 cm) and large size group (>3.0 cm), 91.7% for CEUS group vs. 69.0% for US group (P Conclusions In the diagnosis of CTL, compared with the US-guided CNB, CEUS-guided CNB have certain advantages, especially for larger lymph nodes.