Paediatric neck ultrasonography: a pictorial essay

Abstract

The neck structures are located very superficially and are therefore easy to explore by ultrasound examination. Ultrasonography is crucial for the detection of neck pathologies in children. High-frequency probes (10–15 MHz) are used for the ultrasound examination on the patient lying in supine decubitus and with their neck stretched out. The outcome of the exam depends mainly on the child’s cooperation—hence the need for warm sonographic gel and a comfortable cushion to place under the patient’s shoulders. The complete scan of the neck includes the evaluation of the thyroid and salivary glands and the vascular structures as well as the lymph node analysis. In children and adolescents, the thymus is often visualised in the supraclavicular and jugular scans. It appears as a structure, usually hypoechoic, with thin hyperechoic straps, though echogenicity increases with age. In this pictorial essay, the main pathological conditions of the neck in paediatric age will be examined, such as thyroid dysgenesis, thyroiditis, thyroid nodules, lymphadenopathies, cystic lesions, haemangiomas and vascular malformation, cervical thymus, fibromatosis colli and pilomatrixoma.