Swollen Glands For A Long Time, Cough .Advised For A CT Scan To Rule Out Lymphoma. What Are The Chances To Have This?

Posted on Fri, 13 Jul 2012

Question: Thanks. I have swollen glands for several months. I had a bad cough beginning in November and it is going away now (June). I still have swollen glands but no other symptoms. I am not tired, no sweats, no fevers, negative throat culture, no weight loss. I dance three times wk and walk for exercise and work full time. No slowing in my schedule. My doctor is having me have a CT scan to see if I have lymphoma. Will the CT scan show this? How likely is it that I have lymphoma?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Rakhi Tayal (3 hours later)

Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Asymptomatic lymph node enlargement can be related to a mild chronic infection may be viral, allergies, metabolic disorders or malignancy. A detailed investigation including blood tests and FNAC are needed to find out the cause.
If the size of lymph nodes is less than 1.5 cm, then there is nothing to worry as such small palpable lymph nodes are not significant clinically.
A CT scan is likely to detect any abnormal swellings you might be having.
The chances of having a lymphoma without any constitutional symptoms are low.
Hope this answers your query. I will be glad to answer the follow up queries that you have.
Please accept my answer in case you do not have further queries.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Dr. Rakhi Tayal.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar