Pathologic assessment of computerized tomography accuracy for the evaluation of the laryngeal cartilaginous framework in laryngopharyngeal carcinomas.
Sixty-six whole-organ sectioned laryngopharyngectomy specimens removed for cancer during a seven-year period were uniformly examined to determine the accuracy of preoperative high resolution computerized tomography (CT) for detection of cartilaginous involvement. Our results indicate that CT has a high overall specificity (88.2%) but a low sensitivity (47.1%); we observed a high false-negative rate (26.5%) and a fairly low false-positive rate (5.9%). Massive cartilage destruction was easily assessed by CT, whereas both small macroscopic and microscopic neoplastic foci of cartilaginous invasion were missed on CT scans. Moreover, false-positive cases were mainly due to proximity of the tumor to the cartilage. Clinical implications of these results are discussed.
Sulfaro
S
S
Division of Pathology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano, Italy.
Querin
F
F
Barzan
L
L
Lutman
M
M
Comoretto
R
R
Volpe
R
R
Carbone
A
A
D002277:Carcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D007012:Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D007817:Laryngeal Cartilages / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed