Appearances of mediastinal and pulmonary hilar lymph nodes on thin-section CT: comparison with 5 mm slice thickness CT

Aim This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of thin-section CT of the mediastinum in the assessment of thoracic lymph nodes in comparison with conventional CT. Materials and Methods A total of 193 CT examinations from 193 patients with suspected pulmonary disease were reconstructed into thin-section CT and conventional CT. The appearances of the lymph nodes were assessed and compared between thin-section CT and conventional CT. Results Intranodal fat was more often detected on thin-section CT than on conventional CT (P<.001). There were no statistically significant differences in the frequencies of inhomogeneous enhancement and bulging margin of the hilar lymph node. Conclusion Thin-section CT can improve clinical N-staging of lung cancer due to classification of enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes as benign based on identification of intranodal fat.