Tuberculosis and lymphoma, these 2 diseases can present with lyphadenopathy in anywhere of the body. Therefor differentiation of tuberculosis from lymphoma is often difficult. CT scans of 17 patients with tuberculosis and 23 patients with
lymphoma
were
retrospectively reviewed to evaluate the efficacy of CT scans in differentating adenopathy between tuberculosis and lymphoma, All the patients underwent abdominal CT scans with contrast enhancement before treatment. The size, internal
architecture,
distribution of lymph nodes, and associated findings on CT scans were analyzed. As compared with lymphoma, tuberculous lymphadenopathy showed 1) female preponderance (65%), 2) predilection for portocaval lymph nodes (47%), 3) internal low
attenuation in
lymph nodes (82%), 4) cold abscess formation (24%). Characteristics of lymphoma on CT scans included 1) male prepondrance (78%), 2) conglomeration of lymph nodes (39%), 3) homogenous internal lymph node structure (83%).
These results suggest that evaluation of the characteristics of lymphadenopathy on CT scans is helpful for differentiating between tuberculosis and lymphoma.
|