Head and Neck Masses

We divide the masses in the neck into benign and malignant masses.

Benign formations:

Congenital (such as triglossal, branchial cyst, lymphangioma)
Infection-related lymph node inflammation (tbc, aids, toxo, infectious mononuclosis, cat scratch, severe tonsillitis, skin infection, aphtha etc.)
The neck is very rich in lymph. It drains into various groups of lymph nodes in the lips, face, salivary glands, tongue, larynx and its parts, pharynx, tonsil, nasal region and nasal neck.
Neck lymph groups are divided into superficial and deep groups, namely the front, middle and back neck. In any infection, the lymph nodes belonging to that region first grow and appear as a mass in the neck. After diagnosing the lymph node, the primary lesion that causes its growth is sought.

Malignant formations:

Metastatic neck masses: lymph node enlargements in the neck may not always be due to infection !
The first place where head and neck cancers metastasize is the lymph nodes in the neck!
It is necessary to carefully evaluate lymph node enlargements that do not shrink, are growing gradually and are more than 1.5 cm in CT or MR. The primary tumor should be examined and a primary tumor should be investigated.
Hogkin or non hogkin lymphomas; Many lymph node growths that do not have a primary focus on the neck should be considered.