Role Of Micro Flow Imaging In The Diagnosis Of Lymphadenopathy

Objective:Explore the clinical value of Micro Flow Imaging（MFI）in the diagnosis of lymph node lesion.Method:We collected the conventional ultrasound images,Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound images and corresponding puncture pathological results of patients who underwent Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound and Needle Biopsy due to lymph node enlargement in our hospital from October 2020 to November 2021.A total of 61 lymph nodes were included in the study.We qualitatively analyzed the data of Color Doppler Flow Imaging,Micro Flow Imaging and Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound.The qualitative indexes of Micro Flow Imaging include: distribution pattern of blood supply vessels and internal blood flow performance.The qualitative indexes of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound include enhancement mode,internal perfusion uniformity at peak time,and whether there is no perfusion area.The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,negative predictive value and accuracy of Micro Flow Imaging and Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound imaging in the diagnosis of benign and malignant lymph nodes were calculated respectively.Result:A total of 61 patients with 61 lymph nodes were included in this study,with 29 males（47.5%）and 32 females（52.5%）,aged 50 ± 14.6 years.There were 26 benign cases（42.6%）,including 9 reactive hyperplasia（14.8%）,4 histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis（6.6%）and 13 tuberculous lymphadenitis（21.3%）;35 cases（57.4%）were malignant,including 20 cases（32.8%）of metastatic lymph nodes and 15 cases（24.6%）of lymphoma.The sensitivity,specificity,accuracy,negative predictive value and positive predictive value of MFI were 88.6%,38.5%,67.2%,71.4%and 66% respectively;The sensitivity,specificity,accuracy,negative predictive value and positive predictive value of CEUS in differentiating benign and malignant lymph nodes were 85.7%,42.3%,67.2%,68.8%,and 66.7% respectively;the consistency of diagnostic of two methods was substantial.Conclusion:1.MFI can play a great role in the diagnosis of benign and malignant lymph nodes,which can improve the diagnostic performance of conventional ultrasound.2.The diagnostic performance of MFI and CEUS in independently assessment of benign and malignant lymph node lesions is comparable.Therefore,the application of MFI can reduce the use of CEUS to a certain extent.