Abstract
Sonography is used to detect and characterize palpable resistance or accidentally
discovered lymph nodes (LN) of the lower extremities. In most cases, these are chronically
inflammatory or reactive lymph nodes without clinical relevance. They are almost always
found only in the groin, while LN only occur very rarely in the popliteal. In addition
to the patient’s medical history and clinic, B-scan sonography and vascular architecture
also play a decisive role in differential diagnosis. Due to the unspecific sonographic
findings, it is not always possible to differentiate reliably between inflammatory
and lymphoma diseases in a singular LN: Therefore, a thickening of the cortex with
preserved vascular architecture, for example, is found in lymphomas as well as in
inflammation-reactive LN. An US targeted biopsy can be diagnostically helpful. A metastatic
transformation often goes hand in hand with the destruction of the LN architecture
and the orderly vascular image. Also important is the LN delimitation and central
ischemia in the color-coded and contrast-enhanced sonography.
Key words
lymph nodes - differential diagnosis - lower extremity
Schlüsselwörter
Lymphknoten - Differenzialdiagnose - untere Extremität
