title: Post-treatment imaging appearances in head and neck cancer patients.
abstract: Surgery and radiotherapy (with or without chemotherapy) for head and neck cancer can create a daunting array of radiological appearances post-treatment. The role of the radiologist lies not only in detecting recurrent neoplastic disease, but also identifying non-neoplastic changes that may account for clinical presentation and symptoms in this patient group. There are a number of non-neoplastic as well as neoplastic changes and disease entities that can present on surveillance imaging, such as primary resection and reconstructive surgical change, surgical neck dissection changes, radionecrosis, post-treatment denervation change, and radiotherapy-related secondary tumours. Some of these require conservative management, while others require more active treatment. Awareness and recognition of the imaging appearances of these post-treatment changes is therefore critical for the radiologist involved in the multidisciplinary care of the head and neck cancer patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, St Bartholomew's Hospital, Barts and The London NHS Trust, London, UK. curtis.offiah@bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Offiah
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hall
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D037981:Neck Dissection / Q000009:adverse effects; D009336:Necrosis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome