Contrast-enhanced ultrasound for the preoperative assessment of laryngeal carcinoma: a preliminary study

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is considered an attractive imaging technique to evaluate tumor microcirculation. However, the validity of CEUS for assessing laryngeal carcinoma is unclear.

To compare the performance of CEUS with conventional US and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) in the diagnosis and preoperative T-staging of laryngeal carcinoma.

Forty-one consecutive patients with laryngeal carcinoma underwent conventional high-frequency US, CEUS, and CECT before surgery. The CEUS characteristics of laryngeal carcinoma were recorded. The imaging findings of CEUS and conventional US were compared with CECT findings and the postoperative pathological examination.

CEUS showed hyperenhancement in 38 cases and isoenhancement in three cases. Homogeneous distribution of contrast agent was found in 20 cases and heterogeneous distribution in 21 cases, of which 16 cases showed local perfusion defects. In the enhanced phase, rapid entry was observed in 37 cases, synchronous entry was observed in two cases, and slow entry was observed in two cases. Rapid exit was observed in 25 cases and slow exit was observed in 16 cases. The pretherapeutic T-staging accuracy was not significantly different between conventional US, CEUS, and CECT (P ≥ 0.500). A high sensitivity and specificity were achieved by CEUS in the evaluation of involvement of thyroid cartilage.

Compared with conventional US and CECT, CEUS has a reliable initial T-staging accuracy and diagnostic properties for detecting laryngeal cartilage invasion.