Objectives: The sensitivity of the current 10mm cut-off diameter that is used to diagnose lymph node (LN) metastasis is too low. This is the first study to develop a new criterion to diagnose LN metastasis in a region-by-region manner using multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT).
Methods: 1) The short-axis diameter of the LNs in MDCT images from 1-mm slices obtained immediately prior to surgery was compared with the pathological diagnosis in 78 uterine cervical cancer patients undergoing primary surgery. For the region-by-region analysis, we divided para-aortic and pelvic spaces into 13 regions. 2) In 28 cases in which patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) followed by surgery, we compared MDCT images before and after NAC.
Results: 1) The optimal cut-off in the region-by-region analysis was 5mm, yielding 71% sensitivity and 79% specificity. 2) NAC significantly decreased LN size (p<0.0001). NAC decreased the number of swollen LN regions (>5mm) from 51% (81/158) to 26% (41/158).
Conclusions: The new criterion developed using MDCT could be effective for accurately assessing LN status. It also facilitates the assessment of NAC efficacy regarding the eradication of LN metastases.
Keywords: Cervical cancer; Lymph node metastasis; Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT); Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).
© 2013.