• Magdalena Kuźmińska, Ewa Osuch-Wójcikiewicz, Katarzyna Fronczewska-Wieniawska, Leszek Królicki, and Kazimierz Niemczyk.
• Klinika Otolaryngologii Warszawskiego Uniwersytetu Medycznego. magda.kuzminska@wp.pl
• Otolaryngol Pol. 2011 Sep 1; 65 (5 Suppl): 17-21.

ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to determine the usefulness of 18-FFDG PET/CT in oncological diagnostics in laryngology.Material And Methods45 PET/CT examinations were performed in 41 patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer in Department of Otolaryngology and Nuclear Medicine Department WUM from 2008 to 2011. In 3 patients PET/CT study was conducted several times.ResultsIn 18 patients the result of PET/CT examination was negative, in 27 – positive. Based on PET/CT imaging the recurrent disease was diagnosed in 9 patients, cervical lymph node metastases – in 12 patients, distant metastases – in 6 patients, possible primary tumour localization – in 3 patients. In 7 cases additional foci of increased FDG uptake were revealed outside the head and neck. Among 22 contrast enhanced CT scans performed earlier, in 18 cases results were confirmed. In 2 cases there was no increased FDG concentration in lesions considered suspicious due to CT, in 2 patients increased focal FDG uptake was observed despite no changes in CT scans. The mean SUVmax value in all the lesions in head and neck region was 3.0; for examinations revealing recurrent disease, nodal or distant metastases mean SUVmax was 7.9.Conclusions18F-FDG PET/CT is a useful diagnostic tool for staging of head and neck cancer, identifying residual and recurrent disease and detecting the occult primary tumour. It also allows the visualization of other lesions suspected for malignancy, localized outside the head and neck region.

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