Measurements of cervical lymph nodes in children on computed tomography

BACKGROUND: No normal measurements or specific size criteria have been described for cervical lymph nodes in children. OBJECTIVE: To determine the normal measurements of cervical lymph nodes in children on CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included 142 children (ages 1–17 years) who underwent cervical CT examination after high-energy trauma. We evaluated axial and coronal 2-mm reconstructions for lymph nodes at six cervical levels. For the largest lymph node at each level, we measured diameters in both the long and short axial axes and the long coronal axis. RESULTS: A total of 733 lymph nodes were measured in 142 children (62% boys, 38% girls). The greatest measured diameters were 14 mm for the short axis in the axial plane, 24 mm for the long axis in the axial plane and 28 mm for the long axis in the coronal plane. The Pearson correlation coefficient for age and lymph node size at Levels IV–VI was in the range of 0.19–0.47. CONCLUSION: Lymph nodes with an axial short-axis diameter exceeding 15 mm for Level II and 10 mm for all other cervical levels are uncommon in otherwise healthy children.