Development and validation of an ultrasound diagnostic nomogram to predict benign or malignant lymph nodes in HIV-infected patients

Objective: This study aimed to establish an effective ultrasound diagnostic nomogram for benign or malignant lymph nodes in HIV-infected patients. Methods: The nomogram is based on a retrospective study of 131 HIV-infected patients who underwent ultrasound assess at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center from December 2017 to July 2022. The nomogram's predictive accuracy and discriminative ability were determined by concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve analysis. A nomogram combining the lymph node US characteristics were generated based on the multivariate logistic regression results. Results: Predictors contained in the ultrasound diagnostic nomogram included age (OR 1.044 95%CI: 1.014-1.074 P= 0.004), number of enlarged lymph node regions (OR 5.445 95%CI: 1.139-26.029 P= 0.034), and CDFI grades (OR 9.614 95%CI: 1.889-48.930 P= 0.006). The model displayed good discrimination with a C (ROC) of 0.775 and good calibration. Conclusions: The proposed nomogram may result in more-accurate diagnostic predictions for benign or malignant lymph nodes in patients with HIV infection.