In centers with access to high-end ultrasound machines and expert sonologists, ultrasound is used to detect metastases in regional lymph nodes from melanoma, breast cancer and vulvar cancer. There is, as yet, no international consensus on ultrasound assessment of lymph nodes in any disease or medical condition. The lack of standardized ultrasound nomenclature to describe lymph nodes makes it difficult to compare results from different ultrasound studies and to find reliable ultrasound features for distinguishing non-infiltrated lymph nodes from lymph nodes infiltrated by cancer or lymphoma cells. The Vulvar International Tumor Analysis (VITA) collaborative group consists of gynecologists, gynecologic oncologists and radiologists with expertise in gynecologic cancer, particularly in the ultrasound staging and treatment of vulvar cancer. The work herein is a consensus opinion on terms, definitions and measurements which may be used to describe inguinal lymph nodes on grayscale and color/power Doppler ultrasound. The proposed nomenclature need not be limited to the description of inguinal lymph nodes as part of vulvar cancer staging; it can be used to describe peripheral lymph nodes in general, as well as non-peripheral (i.e. parietal or visceral) lymph nodes if these can be visualized clearly. The association between the ultrasound features described here and histopathological diagnosis has not yet been established. VITA terms and definitions lay the foundations for prospective studies aiming to identify ultrasound features typical of metastases and other pathology in lymph nodes and studies to elucidate the role of ultrasound in staging of vulvar and other malignancies. © 2021 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Department of Clinical Science and Education Karolinska Institute Sodersjukhuset Stockholm Sweden

Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö Lund University Lund Sweden

Department of Gynecological Ultrasound and Prenatal Diagnostics Women's Hospital University Hospital of Basel Basel Switzerland

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University and General University Hospital Prague Prague Czech Republic

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology North West Tuscany Hospital Livorno Italy

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Skåne University Hospital Malmö Sweden

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Sodersjukhuset Stockholm Sweden

Department Radiologie Universitäts Klinik für Radiologie 2 Innsbruck Austria

Dipartimento Scienze della Salute della Donna del Bambino e di Sanità Pubblica Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS Rome Italy

Dipartimento Scienze della Vita e Sanità Pubblica Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Rome Italy

Gynecology and Breast Care Center Mater Olbia Hospital Olbia Italy

Institute of Anatomy 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

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