The role of ultrasonography in the management of tumors of the neck.

By themselves, clinical examination and palpation do not provide an accurate assessment of metastatic neck nodes. They do not yield sufficient information to ascertain the benign or malignant nature of nodes or to determine the presence of extracapsular spread and vascular invasion. The use of real-time ultrasonography with high-frequency transducers can significantly improve the evaluation of patients with neck masses. We studied the use of ultrasound in evaluating metastatic neck disease in 25 patients. We found that it is useful not only in detecting neck nodes, but in assessing their characteristics and the degree of vascular invasion. We recommend that ultrasonography be routinely performed as part of the evaluation of all patients with head and neck masses. It is also valuable in the postoperative or postirradiation followup of patients whose necks are otherwise difficult to evaluate.