Distribution pattern of medial group retropharyngeal lymph nodes and its implication in optimizing clinical target volume in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

This study aimed to determine the diagnostic value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and to elucidate the clinical characteristics of medial group retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RLNs) based on multi-modal imaging. Also, we intended to explore the feasibility of optimizing the CTV60 boundary based on the characteristics of medial group RLNs.

Methods

A total of 549 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma received magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), DWI, and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) to detect and evaluate clinical characteristics of medial group RLNs. ^[18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography was utilized to identify fluorodeoxyglucose uptaking and contrast-enhanced CT to ensure the reliability of CTV optimization

SUBMITTER: Zong D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10509553 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature