• André Fernandes d'Alessandro, Fábio Roberto Pinto, Chin Shien Lin, Marco Aurélio Vamondes Kulcsar, Cláudio Roberto Cernea, Lenine Garcia Brandão, and Leandro Luongo de Matos.
• Discipline of Head and Neck Surgery, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
• Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2015 May 1; 81 (3): 248-54.

IntroductionElective neck dissection is recommended in cases of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma without lymph node metastasis because of the risk of occult metastasis.ObjectiveThe present study aimed to evaluate predictive factors for occult lymph node metastasis in patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma treated with elective neck dissection and their impact on overall and disease-free survival.MethodsForty surgically treated patients were retrospectively included.ResultsTen cases (25%) had lymphatic metastasis. Of the studied variables, perineural and angiolymphatic invasion in addition to tumor thickness were statistically associated with lymph node metastasis. Only angiolymphatic invasion was identified as an independent risk factor for occult metastasis in the logistic regression (OR=39.3; p=0.002). There was no association between overall and disease-free survival with the presence of occult lymph node metastasis.ConclusionMetastatic disease rate was similar to that found in the literature. Perineural and angiolymphatic invasion and tumor thickness were associated with occult metastasis, but only angiolymphatic invasion showed to be an independent risk factor.Copyright © 2015 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

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