Comparing the Diagnostic Accuracy of Ultrasonography, CT, MRI, and PET/CT in Cervical Lymph Node Metastasis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

(1) Background: In oral cancer staging, ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 2-deoxy-2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) are routinely used in clinical practice. The present study is a retrospective examination of the diagnostic accuracy of cervical lymph node metastasis using US, CT, MRI, and PET/CT, with histopathological diagnosis as a reference, to compare the different diagnostic imaging modalities. (2) Methods: The participants included 16 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma who underwent US-, CT-, MRI-, and PET/CT-based preoperative diagnostic imaging and simultaneous primary lesion resection and neck dissection, including 82 level regions and 424 lymph nodes. We compared the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of each imaging modality based on the imaging results and the pathology results of metastasis. (3) Results: Of the four diagnostic imaging modalities, PET/CT exhibited the highest sensitivity but the lowest specificity and accuracy. US, CT, and MRI had high specificities. Comparing each level region and lymph node showed that differences were observed in PET/CT. (4) Conclusions: PET/CT to diagnose lymph node metastasis requires a comprehensive evaluation because it produces more false positives than other diagnostic imaging modalities. Using US, CT, and MRI, which have excellent spatial resolution, improves diagnostic accuracy at the lymph node level.