Radiology, Vol 151, 689-696, Copyright © 1984 by Radiological Society of North America
Laryngeal carcinoma: high-resolution computed tomography and thick anatomic sections
MH Reid
High-resolution 2-mm thick sequential CT scans of 23 patients with primary
laryngeal carcinoma were reviewed to judge the value of CT in early tumor
detection and the ability of CT to establish tumor extent reliably,
particularly early cartilage invasion. False-negative results were likely
when superficial lesions were confined to the true vocal cord mucosa.
False-positive examinations occurred with vocal cord polyps and with acute
and chronic granulomatous reaction of the vocal cords. In tumors large
enough to be imaged, there were no false negatives. False-positive results
for clearly identified tumors were related to the interpretation of tumor
on CT where only edema was present at surgery. Both early and gross
cartilage invasion were well correlated with surgically resected specimen
sections. Early cartilage involvement by tumor can be detected by the
development of a fenestrated chondral margin. Other benign expansive
cartilage processes, such as occur with chondromas, have calcified
cartilage fragment distributions that are out of proportion to any
soft-tissue mass present.
