DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF CONTRAST-ENHANCED MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) AND DIFFUSION WEIGHTED MRI IN DETECTING THE LOCOREGIONAL RECURRENCE OF MALIGNANT HEAD AND NECK TUMOR
*Syed Zubair Ayoub, Ali M. Moshibah, Abdulrahman Almutairi, Khalid H. Bakheet
ABSTRACT
Multiple complications can be seen with treatment that may mimic recurrent tumor in the head and neck cancers. These may occur either early on during the initial post-treatment period or many years later. The radiologist needs to be familiar with the expected post-treatment changes so that any areas suspicious for residual or recurrent disease are recognized early, allowing potential salvage treatment. Interpretation of post-treatment imaging is challenging but can also be integral in the clinicians’ management decision process. The radiologist must be aware of the expected changes following both surgery and radiotherapy in order to recognize possible complications or tumor recurrence. Hospital based retrospective study done with a sample size of 20 cases. All cases included had pretreatment and post treatment MRI’s in the PACS. Contrast enhanced MRI in association with Diffusion weighted imaging has a Sensitivity of 85.7% Specificity of 84.6% and Accuracy of 85.0% in detecting recurrence in post treatment neck for cancer, usually squamous cell carcinoma.
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