title: Preoperative evaluation of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity: fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography and ultrasonography versus histopathology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and ultrasonography (US) in the staging of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared preoperative evaluations regarding lymph nodes using PET/CT, US, and both methods. The cutoff for the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) in PET/CT was set at 2.7 by a receiver operating characteristic analysis that was based on the histopathological diagnosis. US was used to examine internal structural changes on B-mode and hilar vascularity on power Doppler.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The performance of PET/CT and US in combination was better than that of each modality separately. However, there were histopathological changes that could not be detected on PET/CT or US. PET/CT could not detect nodes with necrotic or cystic changes. US could not detect lymph nodes that did not have abnormal structures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PET/CT and US are complementary tools to evaluate preoperative patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Institute of Health Biosciences, University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan. sugawara@dent.tokushima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Chieko
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Michiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.forename: Naozumi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishimaru
authors.forename: Youji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Honda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012372:ROC Curve; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18