To assess the value of ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy (CNB) histopathological detection in the differential diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy.

A total of 155 enlarged lymph nodes of the neck were selected from 155 patients who underwent ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy (CNB) and histopathological detection at the Department of Ultrasound Medicine of Jiangsu People's Hospital from July 2017 to June 2019. A retrospective analysis was performed to analyze the pathological results of CNB and the immune differentiation phenotype. Clinical diagnosis results were used as a reference standard to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of ultrasound-guided CNB histopathological detection for differentially diagnosing enlarged lymph nodes of the neck.

Among the 155 enlarged lymph nodes in 155 patients, the clinical diagnosis showed that 132 cases were malignant and 23 cases benign. Compared with the patients aged below 45 years, those who were no younger than 45 years were diagnosed clinically with a significantly higher proportion of malignant lymph nodes (65.0% vs 93.0%, P=0.000); there was no statistically significant difference in gender, location, or the ratio of short to long diameter between malignant and benign lymph nodes (P＞0.05). Among the 155 patients, 92 had metastatic lymph nodes, 39 had lymphoma, 20 had benign lesions, and 4 could not be clearly diagnosed. In the diagnosis of benign and malignant lymph nodes of the neck,the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of ultrasound-guided CNB were 99.2%, 90.0%, 98.4%, and 94.7%, respectively.

Ultrasound-guided CNB histopathological detection can clarify the immunophenotype of lymph nodes of the neck, preliminarily determine the origin, and have less trauma and fewer complications. It has good diagnostic value for benign and malignant lymph nodes of the neck. Therefore, it can provide a diagnostic basis for clinically taking reasonable treatment measures.