Affiliation:
1. Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Facial Plastic Surgery Geisinger Medical Center Danville Pennsylvania USA
2. Doctor of Medicine Program Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Scranton Pennsylvania USA
Abstract
AbstractObjectiveAssess the impact of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) on disease staging at presentation in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Study DesignRetrospective cross‐sectional review.SettingAcademic multicenter single institution (Geisinger Health System).MethodsAll patients who had PET/CT imaging during workup for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were included in the study. Pre‐ and post‐PET/CT clinical staging were recorded. Statistical analyses were performed for patients with a change in clinical staging or detection of second primary malignancies on PET/CT.ResultsA total of 292 patients were included in the study, 238 of whom underwent PET/CT imaging as part of their initial workup. Twenty‐eight (11.9%) patients were clinically upstaged on PET/CT with 7 patients having treatment alterations based on imaging. Eighteen (7.6%) patients were found to have second primary malignancies on PET/CT.ConclusionThe current study further illustrates the importance of PET/CT in the workup of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Without the inclusion of PET/CT imaging, 19.3% of patients would have either been staged inappropriately or had second primary malignancies missed, again confirming the necessity of comprehensive functional imaging during the initial pretreatment workup.
Subject
Otorhinolaryngology,Surgery