• Balasubramanya Rangaswamy, M Reza Fardanesh, Eric M Genden, Eunice E Park, Girish Fatterpekar, Zara Patel, Jongho Kim, Peter M Som, and Lale Kostakoglu.
• Department of Radiology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, New York, U.S.A.
• Laryngoscope. 2013 Nov 1; 123 (11): 2664-9.

Objectives/HypothesisTo compare the diagnostic efficacy of positron emission tomography (PET) with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET)/computed tomography (CT) to that of contrast-enhanced high-resolution CT (HRCT) and assess the value of a combinatorial approach in detection of recurrent squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (HNC) and to assess the efficacy of FDG-PET/CT with and without HRCT in comparison to standard-of-care follow-up--physical examination (PE) and endoscopy (E)--in determination of locally recurrent HNC.Study DesignRetrospective study.MethodsA total of 103 patients with HNC underwent FDG-PET/CT and neck HRCT. There were two groups of patients: Group A had an FDG-PET study acquired with low-dose CT, and group B had an FDG-PET study acquired with HRCT. The PET data obtained with or without HRCT were compared on a lesion and patient basis with the results of the PE/E.ResultsOn a lesion basis, both groups combined had higher sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) than the HRCT. Specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) for group B were higher than for group A. On a patient basis, both groups combined had a higher sensitivity and NPV than PE/E, respectively, although specificity of PE/E was higher than that of either group. PET data obtained with either protocol directly influenced treatment.ConclusionsHRCT increases the specificity and PPV of PET/CT when acquired simultaneously with PET. FDG-PET/CT acquired with either LDCT or HRCT has higher accuracy than HRCT alone and increases the sensitivity and NPV of PE/E.Copyright © 2013 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

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