Objectives: Cross sectional imaging is mandatory for oral cavity and oropharynx head and neck squamous cell carcinoma's (ooSCC) local extension and TNM staging. However a complex anatomy and frequent dental metallic artifacts make it difficult. This study assesses the clinical benefit of "Mouth Open with Tongue Extended" dynamic maneuver at CT (CTmote) as compared to the conventional CT (CTconv) and MRI.
Material: Retrospectively, 58 patients with histologically proven ooSCC (oral cavity: 34; oropharynx: 24) were included in the study. All had endoscopy with biopsies, MRI, CTconv and an CTmote acquisitions. Data were splitted in 3 datasets and 2 independent radiologists performed readings blindly. Gold standard was pTNM in 31% of cases; otherwise cTNM obtained at multidisciplinary team meeting with endoscopy and mapping biopsies were used.
Results: CTmote was feasible for all patients including those already treated by surgery or radiotherapy. Exact TNM staging was obtained in 68%, 83%, 83% for CTconv, CTmote and MRI respectively. The best exam ratings at paired wise comparisons were 3%, 47%, 50% for CTconv, CTmote and MRI respectively. CTmote and MRI observer agreements, image quality and confidence ratings, were comparable and higher compared to CTconv (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: CTmote improves oral cavity and oropharynx tumour stage assessment compared to CTconv with performances close to those of MRI examination. In clinical practice, combining both CT with MOTE maneuver and MRI seems to be the optimal imaging strategy for local staging.
Keywords: Computed tomography; Dynamic maneuver; Oral cancer; Oral cavity; Oropharynx; Squamous cell carcinoma; Staging; TNM.
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.