Objective To explore the diagnostic value of ultrasound-guided needle biopsy in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) accompanied with lymphadenopathy.

Methods From Apr. 2017 to Dec. 2020, 130 patients with AIDS accompanied with lymphadenopathy underwent ultrasound-guided needle biopsy in the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center. The clinical data and pathological diagnosis were retrospectively analyzed, and the diagnostic value of ultrasound-guided needle biopsy for etiologies of lymphadenopathy was analyzed.

Results Among the 130 patients, 82 (63.1%) and 36 (27.7%) cases were diagnosed as benign lesions and malignant ones, respectively. The pathological types of benign lesions were as follows: 56 lymphatic tuberculosis, 7 non-tuberculous mycobacteria infections, 6 marneffei infections, 5 necrotizing lymphadenites, 2 cryptococcus infections, 2 cytomegalovirus infections, 1 staphylococcus aureus, 1 lymphoid tissue hyperplasia, 1 lymphocyst, and 1 Epstein-Barr virus infection. The pathological types of the malignant lesions were as follows: 17 lymphomas (5 diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, 5 Burkitt lymphomas, 1 plasmablastic lymphoma, 1 small lymphocytic lymphoma, 1 anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and 4 unclassified lymphomas), 17 metastatic malignant tumors, and 2 Kaposi sarcoma, and 12 were undefined (11 patients were considered as benign lesions and 1 case was considered as tumor necrosis). Therefore, the diagnostic rate of ultrasound-guided needle biopsy for lymphadenopathy in AIDS patients reached 90.8%, and no complications occurred.

Conclusions Ultrasound-guided needle biopsy has a high diagnostic rate in pathological types of lymphadenopathy in patients with AIDS. It is safe, minimally invasive, and of great value in the early diagnosis and precise treatment for lymphadenopathy in patients with AIDS, and is worthy of clinical application.