[CT scanning of the cervical lymph node metastases: compared with histologic sections]

With the development of new imaging modality, MRI and CT scanning has become the most useful adjunct to physical examination for the preoperative evaluation of cervical lymph node metastases of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck(SCHN). The study was designed to compare CT scans of metastatic lymph node with corresponding histologic sections on 26 dissections in total and discussed the criteria for assessment of nodal metastases with histologic sections. With pathologic findings as the standard, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CT in the detection of nodal disease is 93.8%, 90.0% and 92.3%. Regarding extracapsular nodal spread, CT scanning results in the accuracy of 72.7%. The accuracy of CT detecting central nodal necrosis was 88.9%. This study indicated that CT is accurate in detecting cervical lymph node metastases from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.