Brief Article
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World J Radiol. May 28, 2013; 5(5): 208-214
Published online May 28, 2013. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v5.i5.208
Chronic hepatitis B: Enlarged perihepatic lymph nodes correlated with hepatic histopathology
Jian Shu, Jian-Nong Zhao, Fu-Gang Han, Guang-Cai Tang, Yin-Deng Luo, Li Luo, Xin Chen
Jian Shu, Fu-Gang Han, Guang-Cai Tang, Li Luo, Xin Chen, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan Province, China
Jian-Nong Zhao, Yin-Deng Luo, Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400010, China
Author contributions: Shu J performed the majority of procedures and wrote the manuscript; Zhao JN was involved in conception and design for the manuscript; Han FG and Tang GC edited the manuscript; Luo YD, Luo L and Chen X contributed to data analysis and interpretation.
Correspondence to: Jian Shu, MD, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Luzhou Medical College, 319 Zhongshan Road, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan Province, China. shujiannc@163.com
Telephone: +86-830-3165738 Fax: +86-830-3165738
Received: January 7, 2013
Revised: April 23, 2013
Accepted: May 9, 2013
Published online: May 28, 2013
Processing time: 150 Days and 13 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is frequently associated with hyperplasia of lymph nodes in the hepatic hilum, and the enlarged lymph nodes can be a good indicator for inflammatory activity of the liver. Enlarged perihepatic lymph nodes for the patients with CHB can be sensitively demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging, especially fat suppressed T2-weighted imaging. The numbers and size indexes of lymph nodes larger than 5 mm in shortest diameter suggest inflammatory activity for subjects with grade 2 or higher, with a high accuracy of diagnosis at a cutoff value of 2 for the numbers or 180 mm2 for the size indexes of lymph nodes.