Sonographic imaging of cervical lymph nodes in patients with thyroid cancer.

Sonography plays an important role in the evaluation of patients who have thyroid carcinoma by identifying metastatic disease to the regional cervical lymph nodes. The sonographic appearance of lymph node metastases may vary from subtle alterations in echogenicity or vascular patterns to more obvious findings of calcifications and cystic changes within an affected node. Identification of metastatic disease to lateral cervical lymph nodes by sonography may affect the extent of surgical resection at the time of diagnosis. In patients who have had thyroidectomy for cancer, sonographic evaluation has proved to be the most sensitive imaging technique to detect thyroid cancer recurrence in the neck.