level 3 lymph noded

[Mandy1971]

I found a lump in my throat a few weeks ago, I had an MRI of the soft tissues of the neck and the impression read as follows....  There are two level 3 lymph nodes abutting the posterior aspect and inferior aspect of the right submandibular gland measuring up to 1.2 cm in diameter.  This is abnormal by size criteria.  The differential diagnosis includes a reactive lymph node, lymphoproliferative or myeloproliferative disorders, viral infections including  monoucleosis or idiopathic causes of lymph node enlargement... Could somebody please tell me what this means???

[Londres70]

This could be infectious or some other pathology and I would propose the next step would be to biopsy this to determine EXACTLY what this is.  

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

There could be many causes for the lymph node enlargement. So, a differential diagnosis ranging from infections to unknown causes has been given. Lymph are protective mechanisms of the body and they 'trap' the infecting source causing enlargement of lymph nodes. The infection can be from the draining skin or the organs. The other causes for enlarged nodes are tumors or inflammations to name a few.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[tschock]

Level three indicates the position of the lymph nodes. In your case they are near the area where a man's " adam's apple" would be. ( More or less )
Unless you meant "stage" and not level. If it says stage, that means how far along in a disease you are, or how long you've had the problem.
They are saying that the gland is measuring 1.2 cm whereas a normal size is up to 1 cm.
They haven't determined the cause, but are saying it could be from a viral infection, mono, etc.
Did they give you any medications? Did they suggest more testing? Surgery?
If not, then they figure it should go away on it's own.
You could also try posting this in the thyroid forum and asking for more input from them. They are very knowledgeable there about lymph nodes as well.
Hope this helps.