Objective To investigate the charateristics and prognostic value of computed tomography (CT) of retropharyngeal lymphadenopathy (RLN) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods From 1991 to 2006, CT images were analyzed for 588 patients with histologically proven NPC treated with radiation therapy in our hospital.The survival rate was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier method.Results RLN metastases were presented in 392 patients, with unilateral side in 254 patients and bilateral sides in 138 patients.The 5-year distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rate of patients with and without RLN metastasis was 66.6% and78.6%(χ2 = 10.78,P=0.005) ,with 69.7% and 62.2%(χ2 =2.31,P=0.129) for patients with unilateral and bilateral sides involvement.The DMFS rate was similar between the mild and moderate enhancement of RLN (67.6% and 58.9% ,χ2=2.77,P =0.096).The survival rate of RLN with homogeneous density was better than heterogeneous density (71.5%, 53.3% and 32.5%,respectively, χ2= 10.51, P = 0.001, χ2= 24.28, P = 0.000).The survival rate of patients with well boarded RLN was better than those with ill boarded RLN and obviously adjacent tissue involvement (65.5%, 51.8%and 50.0% , χ2 =8.20,P=0.004, χ2 =5.31 ,P=0.021).Conclusions The prognosis is poor with RLN metastasis, lymph node enhancement, heterogeneous density in nodes and ill boarded RLN.