The value of ultrasound examination in preoperative neck assessment and in early diagnosis of nodal recurrences in the follow-up of patients operated for laryngeal cancer.

The purpose of this study was to prove the superiority of ultrasound (US) examination of the neck in comparison to palpation, to reveal unpalpable nodes (pN0) before surgery, and to allow for the early detection of nodal recurrences in patients with laryngeal cancers. In all, 1,120 patients with laryngeal cancers were operated on between 1990 and 1997. All underwent palpation and neck US before surgery. In the pN0 group US revealed enlarged lymph nodes in 261/505 cases, of which 63 (24.14%) were confirmed as metastatic by histology. All 1,120 patients underwent regular postoperative US follow-up. Nearly 5,000 US examinations were performed; 136 patients who developed nodal recurrences had surgical salvage procedures. In this group 61 patients had small, nonpalpable lesions, and 46 patients discrete and slight changes in scarred necks. In this latter group of 117 patients with nonpalpable lesions, 105 cases were histologically confirmed as metastatic. In postoperative check-ups, metastases were suspected in sonographically detected subclinical nodes, but the US scans obtained were difficult to interpret. In these cases, because of the dynamics of lesion changes, US was repeated two to three times at 10- to 14-day intervals. This reappraisal enabled us to exclude malignancy in regressing nodes, as well as to obtain the stable picture of scar, and support a diagnosis while the lesion grew larger or a central area of low attenuation or hypoechogenic echos appeared in the nodal capsule. Successful radical reoperation for tumor was done on110 patients; 78 patients underwent successful salvage surgery after an early US diagnosis. The sonographic-surgical correlation was nearly 95% and the sonographic-histological correlation was 90%. The follow-up period was 1-49 months. In all preoperative assessments US was found to be a valuable tool in the staging of laryngeal cancer and planning the extent of surgery. Close follow-up with US after radiotherapy and initial operation was essential for the early detection of tumor recurrences, making surgical salvage still feasible.