Ultrasonographic Criteria of Voit et al for Evaluating a Regional Lymph Node in a Patient with Malignant Melanoma

 

Features diagnostic of malignancy:

(1) echo-poor, round lymph node lacking central echoes ("balloon shaped")

 

Feature high suspicious of malignancy (see text on page 4995):

(1) peripheral perfusion (perfusion at the rim of a space-occupying lesion using power mode)

 

Features suspicious of malignancy:

(1) loss of central echoes

(2) asymmetrical broadening of the parenchyma ("hump structure")

(3) loss of central perfusion

(4) echo-poor islands within an otherwise normal lymph node

 

Feature indicative of benignity:

(1) broadening of the parenchyma to the smaller end of an oval lymph node ("cap structure")