Objective: 1) Determine the utility of ultrasound imaging to visualize the anatomy of the tongue base. 2) Demonstrate that ultrasound imaging can guide transcervical needle placement in the tongue base and thus serve as a surrogate for needle biopsy in the patient with a tongue base lesion.Method: Design and subjects: Feasibility study of ultrasoundguided needle placement in the tongue base in 37 adult cadavers. Interventions: Ultrasound imaging of tongue base anatomy and guidance of dye injection into the intrinsic muscles. Outcome Measurements: Tongue base anatomy visualization on ultrasound and placement accuracy of dye injection.Results: Of 37 cadaver heads, 32 were noted to have excellent and identifiable anatomy of the geniohyoid, genioglossus, and intrinsic muscles of the tongue base. The intrinsic muscles were well visualized during methylene blue dye injection on most specimens, with confirmation of the needle tip location and "bloom" of the injection on real-time ultrasound images. After bisection, 25 of 32 (78%) evaluable specimens were found to have accurate placement of dye within the posterior genioglossus and intrinsic tongue base muscles. Neck circumference was similar between those with accurate (mean 37.9 cm) and inaccurate (mean, 37.4 cm) dye placement (P = .75).Conclusion: This study utilizes a cadaver model to establish that ultrasound visualization of the tongue base provides excellent anatomic detail and demonstrates feasibility of transcervical ultrasound localization of the tongue base for image-guided FNA. This technique has potential applicability to the clinical setting.

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Majority of our Asian patients who underwent craniofacial resections had esthesioneuroblastomas. There is a male predilection, and we do not see a bimodal age distribution that is commonly reported.

Objective: 1) Determine the presence, if any, of aneuploidy in premalignant oral leukoplakia (OL). 2) Review the literature with respect to the relevance of aneuploidy as in OL. Method: Tissue was mechanically disaggregated, and cell suspensions were centrifuged (300 rpm/ 5 minutes). After 10 minutes trypsin digestion and treatment with RNAase inhibitors, cell suspension was stained with propidium iodide and spermine. Nuclear DNA content FCM (flow cytometry) measurements were preformed using FACS Calibur FCM with argon laser (488 nm beam). Results: Scrapings from 17 patients for FCM and tissue for morphological evaluations were obtained. Thirteen out of 17 (76%) patients were male. A total of 4 out of 17 were female (24%). All patients were smokers. A total of 4 out of 17 (82%) patients were graded as moderate dysplasia by 2 different oral pathologists, and 3/17 (18%) were graded as having severe dysplasia. The rate of detection of aneuploidy was 0% (0/17). Conclusion: Most published studies focus on DNA aneuploidy in HNC, and evidence for its role in OL is scant. On the basis of our results and the few published trials on this subject, we analyze whether aneuploidy plays a role in the prediction of risk of malignant transformation in OL.

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