Efficacy of Gray Scale Ultrasound in Discovery of Occult Metastases in Oral Cancer
[1]
Suwarna Dangore-Khasbage, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, India.
Nodal status is a significant predictor for survival of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the usefulness of Gray Scale ultrasound (GSUS) in discovery of occult metastases in oral cancer. In this prospective study, 70 cervical lymph nodes in 30 known primary oral cancer patients were evaluated with GSUS during a period of 8 months. Various features studied were distribution, size, shape of the nodes and echogenic hilus. The results of preoperative clinical palpation of cervical lymph nodes and GSUS evaluation were compared with histopathologic outcome. Clinical evaluation detected 61 cervical lymph nodes in 26 patients while 4 patients had no clinically detectable nodes. GSUS detected 9 additional lymph nodes. Amongst these 9 clinically missed lymph nodes, 3 were proved to be malignant. Thus, the rate of occult metastases was 33% in the present study which shows that GSUS evaluation is an appropriate method for detection of status of lymph nodes in oral cancer patients.
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