Table 1.
Characteristics for 675 EBUS- und PET-tested lymph nodes from 180 patients with locally advanced NSCLC receiving definitive or neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy.
| Lymph node characteristics | EBUS-positive nodes | EBUS-negative nodes | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUVmax | < 0.0001 | ||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 8.39 (5.10–13.5) | 2.43 (1.85–3.20) | |
| Short lymph node diameter from CT [cm] | < 0.0001 | ||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 1.75 (1.29–2.70) | 0.89 (0.64–1.19) | |
| Echelon | < 0.0001 | ||
| Echelon-1 | 145 | 24 | |
| Echelon-2 | 126 | 171 | |
| Echelon-3 | 20 | 189 | |
| SUVmax primary | 0.0077 | ||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 13.8 (9.8–19.0) | 15.6 (11.0–20.0) | |
| SUVmax of echelon 1 lymph nodes | < 0.0001 | ||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 10.6 (6.5–16.0) | 2.4 (1.8–2.9) | |
| SUVmax of echelon 2 lymph nodes | < 0.0001 | ||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 7.0 (4.2–11.8) | 2.6 (2.0–3.3) | |
| SUVmax of echelon 3 lymph nodes | < 0.0001 | ||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 6.8 (4.0–11.3) | 2.2 (1.8–3.1) | |
| Short axis diameter of echelon 1 lymph nodes | < 0.0001 | ||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 2.04 (1.29–6.00) | 0.92 (0.62–1.24) | |
| Short axis diameter of echelon 2 lymph nodes | < 0.0001 | ||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 1.63 (1.29–2.15) | 1.02 (0.78–1.34) | |
| Short axis diameter of echelon 3 lymph nodes | < 0.0001 | ||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 1.66 (1.28–1.90) | 0.79 (0.60–1.06) | |
| Considered lymph node is in station 4R and primary is left-sided | 0.0026 | ||
| (Yes/no) | 13/278 | 42/342 | |
| Largest SUVmax at echelon-2 for the respective patient the considered lymph node originates | |||
| Median (25–75% quartile) | 6.5 (3.6–10.0) | 4.1 (2.7–7.8) | < 0.0001 |
| Histology | 0.5846 | ||
| (AdenoCa. vs. Non-AdenoCa.) | 135/156 | 169/215 | |
| Laterality of the primary tumour the lymph node is draining | 0.0740 | ||
| Right-sided | 157 | 180 | |
All numbers represent lymph node counts, except in the rows with a quantitative value as SUVmax, SUVmax of primary tumour and shorter diameter of EBUS-positive nodes. Continuous variables were compared by Kruskal–Wallis test. Nominal variables were compared by exact chi-square test.