Sonographic appearances of cervical lymph nodes in young Japanese adults

Objectives: We investigated whether there was any association between age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) and nodal morphology and vascular pattern in healthy young Japanese adults.
Methods: Three neck regions in 100 healthy subjects, 19-40 years old, were examined by gray-scale and color Doppler sonography. Vascular pattern was classified into three groups: avascular, hilar, or scattered. A linear mixed-effect model was used to identify associations of age, sex, or BMI with the short-axis diameter and the short-to-long axis diameter ratio (S/L). A cumulative link mixed model was used to identify any association between age, sex, BMI, and vascular pattern.
Results: In the upper cervical region, a decrease in the short-axis diameter was statistically significantly associated with aging (p = 0.04), and an increase in the short-axis diameter was significantly associated with greater BMI (p < 0.001). An increase in short-axis diameter was significantly associated with female sex (p = 0.02) and higher BMI (p = 0.002) in the submandibular region, whereas it was associated with higher BMI (p = 0.001) in the submental region. A greater S/L was significantly associated with higher BMI and female sex in all regions. The scattered vascular pattern tended to be associated with lower BMI (p = 0.051) in the upper cervical region, but it was significantly associated with higher BMI (p = 0.01) in the submental region.
Conclusions: Nodal morphology and vascular pattern may be associated with age, sex, and BMI.