Correlation of displacement of mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes with adjacent organs in non‐small cell lung cancer on four‐dimensional computed tomography

Abstract

Abstract Objective To determine the correlation of displacement of the mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes with adjacent organs in non‐small cell lung cancer using four‐dimensional computed tomography. Methods The displacements of 51 mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes located in the left–right, anterior–posterior, and superior–inferior directions were measured using four‐dimensional computed tomography. Correlation analyses were carried out to determine the association between the displacement of lymph nodes and volumetric change of the lungs and heart. Results A significant correlation of displacement of the left group lymph nodes in left–right and the right group in anterior–posterior directions with volumetric change of the ipsilateral lung was observed. There were significant correlations between displacement of the left group lymph nodes and volumetric change of the heart. Conclusion Displacement of the mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes was relevant to the adjacent organs.

Keywords

• displacement measurement
• four‐dimensional computed tomography
• mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes
• non‐small cell lung cancer
• radiotherapy