[Value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis of laryngeal carcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
To assess the clinical value of (18)F-FDGPET/CT in the diagnosis  of  larynx carcinoma. Methods Forty-seven patients with larynx carcinoma or suspected larynx carcinoma underwent (18)F-FDG PET/CT examination within a week before therapy. The value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis and staging of the malignancy was compared with that of unenhanced contrast CT.


METHODS
Forty-seven patients with larynx carcinoma or suspected larynx carcinoma underwent (18)F-FDG PET/CT examination within a week before therapy. The value of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis and staging of the malignancy was compared with that of unenhanced contrast CT.


RESULTS
Among the 47 patients, a definite diagnosis of larynx carcinomas was established pathologically in 43 patients. For detection of primary tumors, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET/CT were 95.3%, 75% and 93.6%, as compared with 74.4%, 50%, and 72.3% with unenhanced contrast  CT scan, respectively, showing significant differences in the diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy between the two modalities (Χ=7.340, P=0.007; Χ=7.532, P=0.006).  Twenty-six of the 43 patients were identified to have lymph node metastasis, for which (18)F-FDG PET/CT showed a significantly higher diagnostic sensitivity than unenhanced contrast CT (92.3% vs 61.5%, Χ=6.933, P=0.008). In the 46 excised lymph nodes from 19  patients, 26 were found positive for metastasis, for which (18)F-FDG PET/CT showed a diagnostic sensitivity of 92%, significant higher than that with unenhanced contrast CT (64%, Χ=5.71, P=0.017). PET/CT detected synchronous tumor in one case. (18)F-FDG PET/CT resulted in a change of staging in 34.9% of the patients, including upstaging in 14 patients and down-staging in one patient.


CONCLUSIONS
(18)F-FDG PET/CT can be an important means for diagnosis and initial staging of larynx carcinoma.
Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. lv8yin4@163.com
Yin
Y
Lv
Hang
H
Zheng
Quanshi
Q
Wang
Hubing
H
Wu
Hongsheng
H
Li
Wenlan
W
Zhou
Ying
Y
Tian
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18