Mediastinal Lymph Node Enlargement in Patients with Valvular Heart Disease: CT Evaluation and Clinical Correlation

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the presence, size and location of enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes (LNs) in patients with valvular heart disease (VHD) using computed tomography scans in correlation with ejection fraction (EF). Materials and Methods We retrospectively evaluated 30 patients with VHD, without pre-existing diseases that could cause lymphadenopathy (LAP). The presence, size, and location of LNs greater than 1 cm in short axis diameter were evaluated. The location of mediastinal LNs was recorded according to the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Furthermore, we evaluated the presence of pulmonary edema, pleural effusion, and other thoracic abnormalities and evaluated EF of the heart on transthoracic echocardiography. Results Sixteen patients (53%) had at least 1 enlarged mediastinal LN. The most frequent locations were lower paratracheal (4R, n = 8/4L, n = 6), subcarinal (7, n = 5) and right upper paratracheal (2R, n = 4) regions. The frequency of mediastinal LAP was higher in patients with aortic regurgitation (2 of 2, 100%) followed by mitral regurgitation (8 of 11, 73%); it was also high in patients with pulmonary edema (80%), pleural effusion (81%), or both (77%), as compared to patients without pulmonary edema or pleural effusion (17%) (p = 0.001). Ten of 30 patients showed an abnormal EF of < 55%; among them, 8 had mediastinal LAP. However, the relationship between EF and LAP was not statistically significant (p = 0.058). Conclusion Mediastinal LN enlargement is common in patients with VHD, especially in cases of pulmonary edema and pleural effusion. Enlarged mediastinal LNs were frequently observed with abnormal EF, however, the relationship between EF and mediastinal LAP was not statistically significant.

Keywords

• mediastinum
• lymph nodes
• heart valve diseases
• multidetector computed tomography
• pulmonary edema
• pleural effusion