title: Role of MRI in Evaluation of Malignant Lesions of Tongue and Oral Cavity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of MRI in staging of malignant lesions of the oral cavity and to correlate MRI findings with clinical/surgical and anatomical-pathological findings, wherever possible.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 50 patients who presented with malignant lesions of the oral cavity and were referred to radiology departments for MRI. All patients included were subjected to a detailed physical examination following which MRI was carried out on Philips Gyroscan Achieva 1.5 Tesla unit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the study, the highest number of patients were found to have tongue malignancy (82%) followed by buccal mucosa and gingivobuccal sulcus malignancy (18%). The highest number of patients was in the age group of 51-60 years (32%). The incidence was higher in males (96%). There was moderate agreement (k=0.537) for T stage between the clinical and MRI staging assessments. The agreement for N stage between clinical and MRI staging assessments was fair (k=0.328). The final diagnosis was made by histopathology in 22 patients. The agreement for T stage was good/substantial (k=0.790) and for N stage was moderate (k=0.458) between MRI and histopathology staging assessments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MRI provides satisfactory accuracy for preoperative estimation of tumor thickness and predicting occult cervical nodal metastasis. MRI is the preferred modality in evaluation and staging of oral cavity malignancy which helps a clinician for planning of treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Sri Guru Ramdas Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Amandeep
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Sri Guru Ramdas Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Chuni Lal
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Thukral
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Sri Guru Ramdas Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Kamlesh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT), Sri Guru Ramdas Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Arvinder Singh
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Sood
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, Sri Guru Ramdas Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Hanish
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Singla
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiodiagnosis, Sri Guru Ramdas Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vallah, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Kunwarpal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Singh
keywords: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Mouth; Neoplasm Staging; Tongue Neoplasms