[New possibilities in the diagnosis and documentation using 3D power doppler ultrasound with carcinoma of the floor of the mouth as illustration].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate a novel 3D power Doppler ultrasound-technique (3D PDUS) in the diagnosis and documentation of tumours of the floor of the mouth.


METHODS
22 patients with tumours of the floor of the mouth (2 T1-, 5 T2-, 6 T3- and 9 T4-carcinomas) prospectively underwent conventional grey-scale ultrasound combined with power Doppler ultrasound and 3D PDUS (3-Scape). All examinations were performed with the "Sonoline Elegra Advanced" in combination with a 7.5 MHz transducer. Two independent observers compared the results regarding clear tumour margins, midline crossing, infiltration of the mylohyoid muscle, infrahyoidal tumour, contact to the mandible, contact to major vessels (such as the lingual, submental and/or facial artery), intra- and peritumoural vascularisation and judged the value of the 3D reconstruction method for documentation purpose.


RESULTS
All parameters relevant for therapy could be gathered from the 3D data (agreement: 98.2%) almost without loss of information; results of both observers were identical (kappa value: 1.0). In the comparison to conventional ultrasound, 3D PDUS also allows for the reconstruction of axial images of the floor of the mouth similar to CT-images, and a 3D image of tumour vascularisation can be obtained. Acquisition and reconstruction of the 3D data only takes a couple of minutes.


CONCLUSIONS
"3-Scape" is a novel easy-to-perform method allowing the complete acquisition of 3D data of the entire floor of the mouth, and providing the possibility to digitally store and/or transfer examination results without loss of information. Reconstruction of ultrasound-images in any desirable plane and/or as a 3D presentation is possible. Thus, in the future, additional software will facilitate the determination of the volume and the degree of vascularisation of tumours.
Keberle
M
M
Institut für Röntgendiagnostik, Universität Würzburg.
Jenett
M
M
Kessler
C
C
Höhmann
M
M
Betz
T
T
Haerten
R
R
Hahn
D
D
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004282:Documentation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015588:Observer Variation; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000379:methods*