Diagnosis and staging of laryngeal tumors with CT and MRI

Abstract

Cross-sectional imaging with CT and MRI plays an indispensable complementary role to endoscopy in the pretherapeutic workup and staging of laryngeal neoplasms. Adequate interpretation of the CT and MR images requires a thorough knowledge of the patterns of submucosal spread and familiarity with the diagnostic signs of neoplastic invasion as seen with each modality. In addition, the radiologist should be aware of the implications of imaging for staging and treatment. Both CT and MR imaging are highly sensitive for the detection of neoplastic invasion of the pre-epiglottic space, paraglottic space, subglottic region and cartilage. The high negative predictive value of both CT and MRI allows exclusion of neoplastic cartilage invasion quite reliably. The specificity of both CT and MRI is, however, limited and both methods may therefore overestimate the extent of tumor spread. Nevertheless, both cross-sectional imaging methods significantly improve the pretherapeutic staging accuracy of laryngeal tumors if used in addition to clinical examination and endoscopic biopsy. In the presence of a submucosal mass, CT and MRI play a key role for the diagnosis, as they may characterize the lesion, reliably depict its submucosal extent, and guide the endoscopist of perform deep biopsies that allow a definitive histological diagnosis.