Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
5
pubmed:dateCreated
1998-1-16
pubmed:abstractText
Therapeutic outcome of head and neck cancer is influenced strongly by the presence of nodal metastases. Sensitivity and specificity of the physical examination for the diagnosis of nodal metastasis is unsatisfactory, resulting in both false negatives and false positives of 25 to 40%. Preoperative detection of nodal metastases therefore becomes one of the important goals of imaging studies of patients with head and neck cancer. Despite several advanced techniques and the wide clinical use of MR, MR has surprisingly added little to the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced CT. Although CT and MR allow detection of abnormally enlarged nodes or necrotic nodes, neither borderline-sized nodes without necrosis nor extracapsular spread are reliably differentiated from reactive or normal nodes in patients with head and neck cancer. Lack of definitive diagnostic methods of metastatic lymph nodes is a serious shortcoming in the preoperative workup for patients with head and neck cancer. To avoid missing small metastatic nodes, a large number of patients clinically staged as N0 have undergone elective neck dissection to exclude metastases. With development of more tissue-specific imaging techniques, patients can be better characterized according to the status of nodal disease so that an appropriate therapeutic protocol can be designed for an individual case.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
1053-1807
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
7
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
774-83
pubmed:dateRevised
2005-11-16
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Adult, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Aged, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Biopsy, Needle, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Carcinoma, Squamous Cell, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Contrast Media, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Diagnostic Imaging, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Female, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Ferric Compounds, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Head and Neck Neoplasms, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Humans, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Image Enhancement, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Lymph Node Excision, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Lymph Nodes, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Lymphatic Metastasis, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Magnetic Resonance Imaging, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Male, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Middle Aged, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Neck, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Predictive Value of Tests, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Sensitivity and Specificity, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Tomography, Emission-Computed, pubmed-meshheading:9307901-Tomography, X-Ray Computed
pubmed:articleTitle
Imaging of nodal metastases in the head and neck.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor 48109-0030, USA. yanzai@umich.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review, Case Reports