Department of Ultrasound, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, No. 127 Changle West Road, Xi'an, 710032, Shaanxi, China.
Department of Special Clinic, Rehabilitation Center, Joint Logistics Support Force of PLA, Lintong, 710600, Shaanxi, China.
BMC Med Imaging. 2021 Oct 14;21(1):148. doi: 10.1186/s12880-021-00682-5.
Cervical plexus (CP) tumours are difficult to diagnose because of atypical symptoms. This study aimed to summarize the features of a normal CP and CP tumours observed on high-frequency ultrasonography.
The ultrasound data of 11 CP tumour patients and 22 normal volunteers were collected. All 11 patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 4 patients also underwent computed tomography (CT). The imaging data were compared with surgery and pathology data.
The C7 vertebra and bifurcation of the carotid common artery (CCA) were useful anatomic markers for identifying the CP. In contrast to the C1 nerve (22.7%), the C2-4 nerves were well displayed and thinner than the brachial plexus (P < 0.05). CP tumours were more common in females (72.7%) and generally located at C4 (72.7%) on the right side (81.8%). Additionally, the nerve trunk in tumour patients was obviously wider than that in normal controls (7.49 ± 1.03 mm vs 2.67 ± 0.36 mm, P < 0.01). Compared with pathology, the diagnostic rates of CP tumours by MRI, CT and high-frequency ultrasound were 72.7% (8/11), 25% (1/4) and 90.9% (10/11), respectively.
The diagnosis of CP neuropathy is accurate and reliable by high-frequency ultrasound, and the C7 vertebra and bifurcation of the CCA are useful anatomic markers in CP ultrasonography.
由于不典型症状，颈丛（CP）肿瘤的诊断较为困难。本研究旨在总结高频超声观察到的正常 CP 和 CP 肿瘤的特征。
收集了 11 例 CP 肿瘤患者和 22 例正常志愿者的超声数据。所有 11 例患者均行磁共振成像（MRI）检查，4 例患者还行计算机断层扫描（CT）检查。将影像学数据与手术和病理数据进行比较。
C7 椎体和颈总动脉（CCA）分叉是识别 CP 的有用解剖标志物。与 C1 神经（22.7%）相比，C2-4 神经显示得更好，也比臂丛更细（P<0.05）。CP 肿瘤更常见于女性（72.7%），通常位于右侧 C4（72.7%）（81.8%）。此外，肿瘤患者的神经干明显比正常对照组宽（7.49±1.03mm 比 2.67±0.36mm，P<0.01）。与病理相比，MRI、CT 和高频超声诊断 CP 肿瘤的准确率分别为 72.7%（8/11）、25%（1/4）和 90.9%（10/11）。
高频超声对 CP 神经病变的诊断准确可靠，C7 椎体和 CCA 分叉是 CP 超声检查的有用解剖标志物。
