Background: Narrow band imaging (NBI) is a new imaging technique for the depiction of tumor-specific neoangiogenesis. The purpose of the present study was to assess the value of NBI in the early diagnosis of laryngeal cancer.
Methods: This prospective study includes 205 consecutive patients with a laryngeal lesion scheduled for microlaryngoscopy. NBI was immediately performed after white light endoscopy (WLE), whereas excisional biopsy was carried out for histologic verification of diagnosis.
Results: In identifying laryngeal cancer and its precursor lesions, NBI with WLE showed a significantly higher sensitivity (97% vs 79%) and accuracy (97% vs 90%) than WLE alone, but the specificity (96% vs 95%) was essentially equal in both methods.
Conclusion: NBI qualifies for rapid detection and delineation of suspicious lesions. Additionally, this noninvasive method is also beneficial in a variety of benign lesions.
Keywords: cancer; diagnostic imaging; dysplasia; endoscopy; indirect laryngoscopy; laryngology; larynx; narrow band imaging; vocal fold.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.