title: [The value of PET-CT imaging in malignant tumours of the head and neck].
abstract: Imaging with fluor-18-deoxyglucose(FDG)-positron-emission tomography (PET) and CT combined in a single machine is a recent development. Using this technique both molecular and anatomical information are acquired. This results in an increased sensitivity and specificity in comparison to PET and CT as a single modality. One of the main advantages is that interpretation of PET images can be related to the anatomical information which helps to delineate the size and extent of a tumour as well as its relationship with surrounding tissues. It is also useful in planning surgical treatment and irradiation. At restaging PET-CT delineates the site and extent of a recurrence in the complex anatomy of the head and neck region and helps to define the location of a biopsy. This is particularly valuable in the anatomically complex head and neck region. Whole-body imaging can detect distant metastases and second primary tumours. PET-CT has the potential to become a part of the staging procedure of the primary tumour and also the follow-up in patients who have been treated for head and neck cancer.
authors.affiliation: Medisch Centrum Leeuwarden, Postbus 850, 89oi BR Leeuwarden. hans.balink@znb.nl
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Balink
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Krabbe
authors.forename: J G A M
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: de Visscher
mesh_terms: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18