Radiology, Vol 198, 151-155, Copyright © 1996 by Radiological Society of North America

ARTICLES

Laryngeal carcinoma after radiation therapy: correlation of abnormal MR imaging signal patterns in laryngeal cartilage with the risk of recurrence

JA Castelijns, MW van den Brekel, H Tobi, EM Smit, RP Golding, C van Schaik and GB Snow
Department of Radiology, Vrije Universiteit Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

PURPOSE: To correlate abnormal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging signal patterns in cartilage with the effectiveness of radiation treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty previously untreated patients underwent MR imaging and radiation therapy with a curative intent. Cartilage was considered to have an abnormal signal pattern if it had intermediate signal intensity on T1-weighted spin-echo (SE) MR images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted SE MR images. The minimum follow-up was 2 years. RESULTS: Abnormal MR imaging signal patterns of the thyroid cartilage (P < .001; P < .04) were more ominous than those of other cartilage. Abnormal signal patterns in cartilage of patients with small tumors (< 5 cm3 and especially < 1 cm3) were less significant. Abnormal signal patterns in cartilage combined with a large tumor (> 5 cm3) worsened the prognosis significantly (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Abnormal MR imaging signal patterns in cartilage may not indicate a poor prognosis in every case. Abnormal signal intensity in the thyroid cartilage combined with a tumor volume of > 5 cm3, however, appears to indicate an adverse prognosis with regard to tumor recurrence.

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