European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Aim: To localize and characterize neck lesions with respect to anatomical delineation, extension to adjacent structures and bony involvement.
Materials and Methods: For this prospective study the data was collected from patients attending department of radio-diagnosis at LG Hospital, AMCMET medical college, Maninagar Ahmedabad. Total 150 patients presented with symptoms of palpable neck mass and neck pain were recruited. Patients were evaluated with Multidetector CT (Mx Philips 16 slice) and patients who were diagnosed having neck mass on CT scan study. The pathological lesions were evaluated with respect to the density, size of the lesion, location of the lesion, enhancement pattern, presence of calcification, presence of fat, extension into adjoining structures and presence or absence of venous thrombosis and bony involvement.
Results: Most common benign neck mass was in the age group of 31-40 years. Incidence of malignant lesions was observed between 61-70 years (40%). Higher incidence among males was noted with a male to female ratio of 2:1. Necrosis was present in 67.6% of the malignant lesions. Bony involvement was seen in 34 cases (40.47%) of the malignant lesions. Vascular involvement in the form of jugular vein thrombosis was seen in 10.71% of malignant lesions. Extension into the adjacent space was seen in 43 (51.19%) of malignant lesions.
Conclusion: The most common space involvement was parapharyngeal space (24%) followed by pharyngeal mucosal space (18%). MDCT has 96% accuracy in diagnosing neck lesions. MDCT has 100% accuracy in predicting bony involvement in head and neck cancers.