A COMPARATIVE DIAGNOSTIC STUDY OF HEAD AND NECK NODAL METASTASES USING POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY

A prospective study was conducted to compare the accuracy of clinical examination, computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomograph y (PET) in identifying head and neck squamous cell carcinoma metastati c to cervical lymph nodes, The findings in the necks of 49 patients ev aluated by clinical examination and CT were compared to the findings i n the same necks by PET, a newly available metabolic imaging modality, Pathology specimens were available for 45 of the necks, The findings of PET and CT correlated in 84% of cases. In the cases that did not co rrelate, CT proved correct in four of five cases, PET (82%) and CT (84 ) were comparable and were both better than clinical examination (71%) in correctly identifying the presence or absence of metastatic diseas e.