Author(s)
Osama Tarabichi MD
Mustafa Bulbul MD
Amy Juliano MD
William Faquin MD PhD
Mary Cunnane MD
Mark Varvares MD FACS
Affiliation(s)
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Abstract:
Educational Objective: At the conclusion of this presentation, the participants should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the utility of ultrasound in the diagnosis and management of oral tongue cancer. Objectives: To assess the utility of ultrasound in the diagnosis and management of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCCa). Study Design: Systematic review. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement checklist was used to inform the design of this systematic review. All studies that utilized ultrasound in the diagnosis/management of primary SCCa of the oral tongue were included. PubMed, Embase and Cochrane were reviewed to identify eligible studies. Results: After inclusion and exclusion criteria, 18 articles were analyzed. 14/18 of all articles detailed the use of ultrasound in the preoperative setting. 4/18 studies reported its use intraoperatively for deep margin visualization. Statistically significant positive correlations were seen between sonographic and histologic measures of tumor thickness in 9 studies. Finally, 4 studies found positive correlations between the likelihood of cervical node metastasis and tumor depth measurements on ultrasound. Conclusions: Ultrasound is a useful tool in the evaluation and intraoperative management of oral tongue SCCa.