High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue: an in vitro study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine in vitro the potential of high-resolution MRI for evaluating the depth of tumor invasion of the tongue.


METHODS
Twenty-one resected specimens of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue were examined on a 1.5T MRI system with a 4 cm surface coil using four different sequences; T1W SE, T2W SE, 3D-FISP and 3D-CISS. The thickness of normal epithelium, tumor depth and width were measured on both MR images and histopathological sections.


RESULTS
The mucosal epithelium, lamina propria and muscles of the tongue were clearly identifiable on MRI. All 21 carcinomas, including three early invasive carcinomas, were clearly demonstrated. A high correlation was found between the values measured by MRI and histopathology for thickness of mucosal epithelium and both depth and width of tumors. There was a good agreement between the T2W SE and the other imaging sequences for measurements of both depth and width of tumors.


CONCLUSIONS
High-resolution MR imaging appears reliable for the in vitro evaluation of depth of tumor invasion in carcinoma of the tongue.
Tetsumura
A
A
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
Yoshino
N
N
Amagasa
T
T
Nagumo
K
K
Okada
N
N
Sasaki
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012016:Reference Values; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014059:Tongue / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*