CT-Based Definition and Structured Reporting of Abdominal Lymph Node Stations

Abstract

Background Meticulous evaluation of abdominal lymph nodes on computed tomography (CT) is a fundamental task in radiological practice especially in oncological reporting. Although various reporting systems exist to define abdominal nodal stations for malignancies of individual abdominal organs, a complete and uniform framework for radiological reporting of abdominal lymph nodes does not exist in the literature. Purpose The goal of this review was to provide a step-wise reporting template and precise definitions of the radiological anatomy of abdominal lymph nodes and to generate a CT-based illustration of the lymph node stations of the abdomen. Conclusion This CT-based illustration and reporting template will help the radiologists to aptly describe the extent of the lymph nodal diseases and will help in comparison with posttherapy scans.