Latest advancements in imaging of oral and maxillofacial neoplasm: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Radiographic imaging is one of the greatest investigative tools that are used in medical sciences since ages. There is an important role of imaging in staging, during treatment planning, and post-treatment follow up of patients with head and neck cancer. To design an effective treatment strategy, two tasks are very important which are accurate staging and timely assessment of the cancer. There lies the importance of pre-treatment imaging in diagnosis. Awareness of the presence of cervical node metastasis is important in treatment planning and in prognostic prediction for patients with head and neck cancer. Currently, MRI and CT are commonly used to evaluate the primary tumor and the neck status. They characterize the cervical lymph nodes dependent on morphological criteria. Doppler ultrasound and Positron emission tomography are also used to overcome some of the limitations of MRI and CT.

Keywords

• Computed tomography
• head and neck carcinoma
• magnetic resonance imaging
• positron emission tomography