Determine diagnostic accuracy of multislice CT scan in detection of bony invasion of squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To  determine  the  diagnostic  accuracy  of  multislice computed tomography   in  detecting bony invasion  of  squamous  cell carcinoma  of   the  oral  cavity.

METHODS:

We enrolled 80 biopsy proven patients of oral  squamous cell carcinoma who underwent multislice computed tomography at department of diagnostic radiology, Liaquat National Postgraduate Medical Centre from July 2011 till December 2011. Lesions were assessed for bony involvement of  maxilla &  mandible. A total of 69 patients underwent surgery after computed tomography. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values  were calculated by comparing the computed tomography results with histopathology. Around 11 patients who did not have surgery were excluded from the study.

RESULTS:

Multislice CT correctly identified  invasion of the maxilla in 9 out of 9 patients (9/9) ,invasion of mandible in30 out of 32 patients( 30/32), invasion of maxilla and mandible in 4 out of 4 patients. Thus the sensitivity of the computed tomography was 95.55%. On the other hand, computed tomography correctly detected 24 out of 25 cases without bony invasion making the specificity as 95.85%.

CONCLUSION:

Mulltislice Computed Tomography is an accurate modality for detecting bony invasion of squamous cell carcinoma of the the oral cavity. 

Key words: Bony invasion, CT, squamous cell carcinoma oral cavity