[Ultrasonographic findings of abdominal tuberculous lymphadenitis].

Five patients with abdominal tuberculous lymphadenitis were studied by ultrasound. The final diagnosis of tuberculosis was based on open biopsy in 2 patients, neck lymph node biopsy in 1, needle biopsy under ultrasound control in 2. Low-echoic and iso-echoic abdominal lymph nodes were seen in all patients and a mixed echoic lymph node was found in one of them. Enlarged, round or oval, lymph nodes were conglomeratically observed along the common hepatic artery, in the hepatoduodenal ligament and along the abdominal aorta. The size of the lymph node was found to be 20-70 mm. In one case, compression of the portal trunk and the common bile duct due to a large lymph node was observed, and arterioportography showed hepatopetal collateral veins. In the other case, multiple mass lesions in the liver and the spleen were observed. In the 4 patients who were observed by ultrasound at 2 months after anti-tuberculosis therapy, enlarged lymph nodes decreased and 3 of them changed from low-echo to iso-echo in the echo pattern. Of the 4 patients who were followed for more than 4 months, lymph nodes disappeared in 2 at 4 months and in one at 12 months. The remaining patient showed residual nodes which decreased in half at 8 months. Ultrasound is now used commonly in the examination of the abdomen, and there are cases of abdominal lymph nodes swelling due to varied diseases. In this study, there were no characteristic ultrasonographic findings in abdominal tuberculous lymphadenitis. So, it is difficult to diagnose the cause of abdominal lymph node swelling by only ultrasound.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)