Objective: This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of Ultrasound-guided Core Needle Biopsy (US-CNB) to provide sufficient information for diagnosis and initiation of the treatment for head and neck lymphoma.
Study Design: We carried out the prospective consecutive case series in a single- center study.
Setting: The tertiary medical center setting.
Patients and Methods: Totally, 72 patients were enrolled and the US-CNB of suspicious cervical lymph node was performed. Demographics, imaging and pathological data were collected for each patient and used to identify the factors that shape the diagnostic yield of US-CNB.
Results: We observed among 72 CNBs 52 were fully diagnosed and 20 cases needed Excisional Surgical Biopsy for sub-classification. Then the factors influencing the results of the US-CNB, as the first-line diagnostic procedure for suspected cervical lymphadenopathy were discussed. The CNB results did not differ in terms of BMI, neck circumference and pathological subtype. Fully diagnosis CNB results demonstrated an association with higher mean tumor size and LAP in cervical zones 1 to 4 rather than posterior triangle.
Conclusion: About 30% of the patients in the present study required ESB after US-CNB for fully diagnosis and this delayed their treatment. Therefore, the use of US-CNB as a primary method in assessment of cervical lymphadenopathy still needs more studies to investigate the factors influencing the results and shaping its diagnostic yield.