Sonographically guided fine needle aspiration biopsy of abdominal lymph nodes: experience in 102 patients.

We present our experience with sonographically guided fine needle aspiration biopsy of abdominal and retroperitoneal lymph nodes in 102 patients. The biopsied lymph nodes measured 1 to 6 cm (mean, 2.3 cm) and were located at the porta hepatis (n = 23), in the peripancreatic (n = 31), paraaortic (n = 22), aortocaval (n = 1), common iliac (n = 3), or external iliac (n = 6) regions, or in the mesentery (n = 16). Material sufficient for cytologic analysis was obtained in 87 (85.2%) of the 102 patients. The cytologic diagnosis in these patients included malignancy in 47 patients, tuberculosis in 28 patients, reactive lymphoid hyperplasia in 10 patients, and aspergillosis in two patients. In the other 15 patients, fine needle aspiration biopsy could not provide a definitive diagnosis. No major or minor complications occurred in our study. Thus, sonographic guidance is an effective alternative to computed tomography for biopsy of abdominal and retroperitoneal lymph nodes.