Enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes in asymptomatic children: the value of the finding in various imaging modalities

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes in asymptomatic children. We prospectively studied 189 consecutive asymptomatic children from the outpatients' nephrological clinics who were referred for abdominal ultrasound. For comparison, we retrospectively reviewed the abdominal CT studies of 99 children, performed following blunt abdominal trauma. The children of both groups were divided into four subgroups according to their ages. The size, the number and the morphology of mesenteric lymph nodes were assessed. On abdominal ultrasound, enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes were detected in 55 of 189 asymptomatic children (29.1%). The longitudinal diameter of the lymph nodes ranged between 5 mm and 19 mm. These lymph nodes were arranged in clusters (three to nine in number in a cluster). All the lymph nodes were oval-shaped, flattened, and without any discomfort following graded transducer compression. On abdominal CT, enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes were diagnose...