COMBINATION OF COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC IMAGING CHARACTERISTICS OF MEDIAL RETROPHARYNGEAL LYMPH NODES AND NASAL PASSAGES AIDS DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN RHINITIS AND NEOPLASIA IN XXXX .

@entity1 @entity5 @entity2490 @entity11766 @entity468
UNASSIGNED: Feline @entity11766 are a diagnostic challenge. The objective of this retrospective, cross-sectional study was to determine whether computed tomography (CT) imaging characteristics of the medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes (MRPLN), alone or in combination with CT imaging characteristics of the nasal passages, could aid in differentiation between @entity2490 and @entity5 . @entity468 were recruited from record archives at two veterinary facilities during the period of 2008-2012. Selection criteria were presentation for chronic nasal discharge, contrast-enhanced CT of the head that included the MRPLN, and rhinoscopic nasal biopsy resulting in diagnosis of @entity2490 or @entity5 . For each CT scan, two board-certified veterinary radiologists recorded MRPLN size, attenuation, heterogeneity, contrast-medium enhancement, margination, shape, presence of a lymph node hilus, perinodal fat, turbinate lysis, paranasal bone lysis, and nasal mass. Both readers were unaware of @entity1 information at the time of CT interpretation. Thirty-four @entity468 with @entity2490 and 22 @entity468 with @entity5 were included. Computed tomographic characteristics significantly associated with @entity5 included abnormal MRPLN hilus (OR 5.1), paranasal bone lysis (OR 5.6), turbinate lysis (5.6), mass (OR 26.1), MRPLN height asymmetry (OR 4.5), and decreased MRPLN precontrast heterogeneity (OR 7.0). The combined features predictive of @entity5 were a nasal mass with abnormal hilus (OR 47.7); lysis of turbinates/paranasal bones with abnormal MRPLN hilus (OR 16.2). Findings supported the hypothesis that combining CT features of the nasal passages and MRPLN aided in differentiating @entity2490 from @entity5 in @entity468 .
