Diagnostic imaging of benign and malignant neck masses in children—a pictorial review

Neck masses are frequently encountered in pediatric medicine, and can present a diagnostic dilemma for the clinicians involved (1,2). There are several means by which neck masses in children can be subdivided, for example by age at presentation, anatomical location including compartments and fascia of the neck, their classical appearance when imaged, or by etiology. In this pictorial review the latter approach is adopted and subdivides the topic broadly to include congenital and developmental pathologies, neoplastic, infective and miscellaneous causes. When imaging children the clinicians must be mindful of radiation exposure and as such ultrasound (US) is often attempted first. If required, additional acquisition by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) can be considered. These modalities can help aid in improving diagnostic confidence as well provide additional information such as involvement of deeper structures, especially since this is a limit of US penetration depth while high frequency probes are usually used for evaluating superficial pathologies (2)