ASSESSMENT OF SKULL BASE INVOLVEMENT IN NASOPHARYNGEAL CARCINOMA - COMPARISONS OF SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY WITH PLANAR BONE-SCINTIGRAPHY AND X-RAY COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY

The diagnostic contribution of single-photon emission tomography (SPET ) to the detection of bone lesions of the skull base was explored in 2 00 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Comparison of SPET wi th planar bone scintigraphy showed that SPET improved the contrast and better defined the lesions in 107 out of the 200 patients. Comparison of SPET with X-ray computed tomography (CT) showed that SPET did not miss the lesions detected by CT while CT missed 49% of the lesions det ected by SPET. The only false-positive lesion with SPET was detected i n the mastoid bone. SPET detected skull base lesions in all of the 35 patients with cranial nerve involvement, while CT missed eight and pla nar bone scintigraphy missed four. The findings suggest that SPET shou ld be included in the routine check-up examinations of patients with N PC.