Abstract

Pre-operative staging of carcinoma of tongue using Ultrasonography and Magnetic Resonance imaging

ABSTRACT
Purpose. To assess the accuracy of staging tongue cancer using ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) when compared to histopathology (HPE).
Method. Biopsy confirmed, 28 cases of carcinoma of tongue were prospectively studied. A TNM stage was assigned to each patient using MRI and US in this double blind study. The gold standard stage on HPE was then correlated with MRI/US stage. Statistical analysis was performed.
Results. Most of the patients 75% (21/28) at presentation were stage II or more. MRI staging had an overall accuracy of 82.1%( 23/28) while US had 57.1% (16/28) overall accuracy. The difference in staging was not statistically significant on Fischer’s exact test. US was more accurate in evaluating larger tumors. For stage 1, II and III MRI was 83.3% accurate. US achieved an accuracy of 16.6% for stage I and an accuracy of 66.6% for stage II and III. For stage IV, both MRI and US attained 100% accuracy.
Conclusion. US has an accuracy of 57.1% in staging tongue cancer, while MRI attains 82.1% accuracy. The difference is not significant statistically. US achieves high accuracy in evaluating advanced cancers. It can be used where MRI is unavailable or contraindicated.

Key words: Staging tongue cancer Ultrasonography MRI