title: Evaluation of optical coherence tomography to discriminate lesions of the upper aerodigestive tract.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study evaluated the capability of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to differentiate premalignant and early malignant lesions of the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT).
  
  
  METHODS
  An OCT screening was performed in 52 healthy volunteers. Epithelial thicknesses on 38 OCT images and histopathological slides were correlated. One hundred primary lesions were rated via OCT concerning invasiveness by an "unblinded" investigator, then biopsied, and the results correlated. All OCT images were evaluated by 3 "blinded" investigators. Forty-eight images underwent retrospective image analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Screening showed large differences concerning epithelial thicknesses, but good correlation (κ = 0.63) between OCT and histopathological slides. In the unblinded evaluation, noninvasive and invasive lesions could be distinguished with a sensitivity of 88.9% and specificity of 89.0% whereas the blinded evaluations led to sensitivities of 100%, 66.7%, and 77.8% and specificities of 75.8%, 71.4%, and 70.3%. The difference of mean intraepithelial intensity reductions in dysplasias (38.7%) and hyperplasias (18.9%) was statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OCT complements visual inspection for differentiating UADT-lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Klinikum der Universität München, Munich, Germany; Laser-Forschungslabor, LIFE Center, Klinikum der Universität München, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Volgger
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stepp
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ihrler
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leunig
authors.forename: Parag M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Malavika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Susarla
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Christian S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Betz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015588:Observer Variation; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: erythroplasia; invasiveness; leukoplakia; optical coherence tomography; upper aerodigestive tract