Jugular chain cervical lymph nodes - pls help

unknown said:

A reactive node is one which is swollen in response to some sort of infection. Yours are small. No reason for alarm bells to go off yet. If you are very concerned you could get a biopsy which is the only way to positively diagnose lymphoma. The way I read your report ( I am not a physician ), is that the Dr. is saying he suspects an infection.

As I understand things, GK is completely correct regarding the meaning of "reactive" here.

A 9mm node is enlarged some, but still quite small in "the lymphoma world-view," where nodes are usually described in centimeters.  A CT cannot even see anything smaller than around 2 to 3 mm, for instance, and your nodes are not a lot larger than that.

"Bilateral" simply means "both sides."

"Jugular chain nodes" is a techincal description for precisely where the nodes are situated in the musculature of the neck.  I suspect that it means something like, "sequential nodes following the jugular vein down your neck, both sides." 

The radiaologist (the doctor who wrote the report) is giving a professional opinion of the nodes being swollen due to infection.  His comments cannot "rule out" lymphoma (only a biopsy can do that), but the most straighforward read of things is usually best, at least initially.

You joined four years ago. What was going on then ? (It might be relevant to your current scan is why I ask.)  What was the "neck issue" that you were experiencing ?

I would not fret over it at this time. See what kind of follow-up or monitoring your current doctor recommends, and ask him or her for an explanation "in English."  If your doc treats with antibiotics, I would require that it be rescanned after the drugs have had plenty of time to work, just to ensure that they resolved the issue. If drugs do nothing, then more testing is probably in order.

.

DadysGirl said:

Hi, I appreciate all of your

Hi, I appreciate all of your responses. The primary had ordered X-ray of soft tissue neck. Wasnt sure what that would have shown but, did get result and they didn't see anything, didn't even see the lymph nodes. I had h pylori test which came back negative. Today had mammo which was clean. Blood work came back with elevated wbc. I've had that in past in chronic form where I was referred to an oncologist in 2013 to check for specific type of leukemia (came back negative). I was told I could get a barium test done of neck, when I looked it up online, it's a test for neck head cancers. primary thought if lymph nodes were larger in X-ray then we'd go directly for biopsy skip catscan. In any case, I think I'm not going to do anything for now. No one is telling me to do this or that. October 2014 I had pneumonia for the first time in my life and was put on strong two antibiotics. My digestive track has been messed up since. I was told by my ob today that sometime lymph nodes don't go back down to original size.  In the past I was here for my wonderful Dad who had DLBC non Hodgkin's lymphoma (Passed away shortly after sct) ((( Again, I appreciate all the information and advice. Wishing you all health and happiness. 

I did some research regarding the "normal size of cervical nodes." The range is large, and varies by exact location, but none listed smaller than 5 mm, and the NORMAL size for others was listed at 1.5 cm (=15mm).  By this very general information, the nodes reported on you scan do not seem enlarged at all.

The long list of test results you just listed, all of which are negative, except elevated WBC, add to the probability that you are NOT dealing with lymphoma.  Luckily you obviously have concerned doctors who are very conscientiously following your case,

max

DadysGirl said:

Hi Max,
Thank you so much for

Hi Max,

Thank you so much for doing research, I also did a lot the first two days on my own, but saw different numbers and wasn't sure how enlarged mine are. I had read one place some max numbers are 5mm, 8mm and 10mm short x axis. In any case, I think I'm just going to wait for now and take my Dad's oncologist suggestion and have a ctscan in 3 months. I phoned him since he had given us his cell phone during and after my wonderful Dad's treatments for ourselves if at anytime he may be able to help us we should call him so I did and he wanted a copy of the MRI and in his opinion it was a good idea to do a ctscan in 3 months to see if there is any change. Wishing everyone health and happiness. Best Regards.

Therefore, it can produce inflammation. Inflammation is a response of your immune system to some trigger, whether warranted (infection) or not (autoimmune malfunction). When your system is triggered, lymphocytes rush to the area and a larger number than usual collect in the lymph nodes. Arthritis in your neck always produces some level of inflammation, thus the cervical (neck) nodes which are right there have become reactive, and are enlarged. That is their funtion. They are not primarily cancer detectors, but some cancers do cause them to enlarge. As to their size, up to 1 centimieter and even slightly larger is considered within the normal range. They grow and shrink according to the needs of our immune system, more or less as our lungs do according to our need for oxygen (except much slower).

Are you effectively treating the athritis? If your current therapy is not producing the desired result (less pain and inflammation), you might ask to adjust the medication, or seek a clinical trial of an advanced drug that is not yet available to the public.