Pehlivan Müberra, Gurbuz Melek Kezban, Cingi Cemal, Adapinar Baki, Değirmenci A Nevbahar, Acikalin F Mustafa, Pinarbaşli Mehmet Özgür, Colak Ertugrul
Eskişehir Government Hospital, Meselik, Turkey.
Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Meselik, Turkey.
Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2019 May-Jun;85(3):297-302. doi: 10.1016/j.bjorl.2018.01.002. Epub 2018 Feb 16.
Ultrasonography is the easiest non-invasive method to diagnose lymph node metastases in patients with head and neck cancer. However, since CT scans are often preferred in the evaluation of primary tumours of these patients, information about lymphatic metastases may also available in these patients. Therefore, ultrasound is not routinely employed in the evaluation of these patients. However, elastography technique, a recent development in ultrasound technology, could make use of ultrasonography in these patients even more widespread, even though it is still not widely used today.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of sonographic elastography in the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of head and neck cancer.
Twenty-three patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer and scheduled for surgical treatment including neck dissection were included in the study. All patients underwent neck examination by palpation, ultrasound elastography and computerized tomography with contrast. To compare the diagnostic performance of palpation, ultrasound elastography and computerized tomography, the findings of each examination method were compared with the histopathological examination results of neck specimens.
15 (65.2%) patients had a primary tumour in the larynx; 7 (30.4%) in the oral cavity; and 1 (4.3%) in the parotid. 7 (30.4%) out of 23 patients underwent bilateral neck dissection. In total, 30 neck dissections were hereby taken into account during study. Ultrasound elastography showed higher accuracy (83.3%) and higher sensitivity (82.4%) than palpation and computerized tomography, but the specificity of ultrasound elastography was lower (84.6%) than palpation and computerized tomography.
Ultrasound elastography is helpful for the diagnosis of lymph node metastases in patients with head and neck cancer. Due to its non-invasive character, it can be used safety in combination with other radiological techniques to support or improve their diagnostic performance.
超声检查是诊断头颈部癌患者淋巴结转移最简单的非侵入性方法。然而，由于在评估这些患者的原发性肿瘤时通常更倾向于使用CT扫描，因此这些患者也可能获得有关淋巴转移的信息。因此，超声检查在这些患者的评估中并非常规使用。然而，弹性成像技术作为超声技术的最新发展，即使在如今仍未广泛应用，但它可能会使超声检查在这些患者中的应用更加广泛。
本研究旨在评估超声弹性成像在头颈部癌淋巴结转移诊断中的作用。
本研究纳入了23例诊断为头颈部癌并计划进行包括颈部清扫术在内的手术治疗的患者。所有患者均接受了触诊、超声弹性成像和增强计算机断层扫描的颈部检查。为了比较触诊、超声弹性成像和计算机断层扫描的诊断性能，将每种检查方法的结果与颈部标本的组织病理学检查结果进行了比较。
15例（65.2%）患者的原发性肿瘤位于喉部；7例（30.4%）位于口腔；1例（4.3%）位于腮腺。23例患者中有7例（30.4%）接受了双侧颈部清扫术。因此，在研究中总共考虑了30次颈部清扫术。超声弹性成像显示出比触诊和计算机断层扫描更高的准确性（83.3%）和更高的敏感性（82.4%），但超声弹性成像的特异性（84.6%）低于触诊和计算机断层扫描。
超声弹性成像有助于头颈部癌患者淋巴结转移的诊断。由于其非侵入性特点，它可以安全地与其他放射学技术联合使用，以支持或提高其诊断性能。
