Use of ultrasound examination in evaluation of the size and advancement of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal tumors to the neighboring anatomical structures

The study objective is to establish the capabilities of ultrasound (US) examination in evaluation of the advancement of squamous-cell carcinoma of the larynx and hypopharynx compared to histological examination and other diagnostic methods. Materials and methods. US examination was performed in 86 patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the larynx and hypopharynx. The study included 14 (16.3 %) patients with stage I disease, 29 (33.7 %) patients with stage II, 19 (22.1 %) patients with stage III and 24 (27.9 %) patients with stage IV. Patients with primary tumors of the larynx and hypopharynx comprised 75.6 % of the study population, patients with recurrent tumors – 24.4 %. During diagnosis advancement of tumors to the anatomical structures in the laryngeal space and beyond was evaluated. In all cases histological verification of the diagnosis was performed. Comparison of the data on advancement of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal tumors from different diagnostic methods with the results of histological examination depending on the T-category (TNM) was performed. Results. For small tumors (Т1), frequency of agreement between advancement of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal tumors measured by US examination and histological examination was 66.7 %, by endoscopic laryngoscopy (ELS) – 80.0 %; for T2 tumors, results of US examination and ELS were identical, frequency of agreement with histological examination data was 87.2 % for both methods; for T3 tumors, US examination data agreed with histological examination data in 83.3 % of cases, ELS data – in 75.0 %; for T4 tumors, frequency of agreement between US examination and histological examination data was only 44.4 %, between ELS and histological examination – 66.7 %. Therefore, US examination was more accurate for evaluation of advancement of T2 and T3 tumors. Results of evaluation of advancement of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal tumors by US examination, computed tomography and magnetic resonance tomography were close, comparable and weren’t statistically different. For T1 and T2 tumors frequency of agreement between the results of histological examination and US examination data was higher than between the results of histological examination and computed tomography data. Conclusions. High accuracy and value of US examination in evaluation of advancement of primary and recurrent tumors of the larynx and hypopharynx were shown.