Abstract
By far the most common causes of lumps in the neck are swollen lymph nodes. The most common cause of cervical lymphadenopathy is infection in the area of drainage (virtually anywhere in the head and neck). Most frequent of all is an enlarged jugulodigastric (tonsillar) lymph node, inflamed secondary to a viral upper respiratory tract infection. Enlarged cervical lymph nodes may also be a manifestation of systemic infection (e.g. HIV/AIDS), or related to malignant disease in the drainage area (e.g. carcinoma) or elsewhere (e.g. leukaemia or lymphoma). These and less common causes are discussed in this, the last article in this series.