ULTRASOUND VERSUS PHYSICAL-EXAMINATION IN STAGING CARCINOMA OF THE MOBILE TONGUE

Surgical therapy for early lesions of the tongue should have the poten tial to be both oncologically sound and easy to rehabilitate. Obviousl y, the amount of tongue left behind after surgery is proportional to t he post-operative function. Hence accurate mapping of the diseased ton gue is of paramount importance in order to limit or extend the resecti on margins. We have evaluated the use of ultrasound in carcinoma of th e tongue, and also compared its relative accuracy with physical examin ation for determining the extent of growth, keeping the histopathologi cal size as a gold standard. We found that ultrasound is more accurate in detecting T-2 and T-3 tumours than T-1 lesions. intraoral sonograp hic mappng may be the answer for such small lesions. In addition, ultr asonography is beneficial in showing spread to contiguous areas of the tongue. However, post-radiation fibrosis and frank residual disease w ere not differentiated accurately by ultrasound. Thus ultrasonography can be an effective investigative tool and together with physical exam ination it can increase diagnostic accuracy leading to precise surgery for carcinoma of the tongue.