MR Findings of Laryneal Cancer: Pathologic Correlation

PURPOSE: MRI is known to display the anatomy of the larynx in excellent detail with its remarkable soft tissue delineation and multiplanar imaging capability. We evaluate the accuracy of MRI in diagnosis and staging of laryngeal cancer MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen cases with pathologically proved squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx were reviewed, retrospectively. The examination was performed with a 0.5 T superconductive MR system and C1 surface coil. Axial, sagittal and coronal plane with T1WI(TR/TE 450/20) and T2WI(TR/TE 18OO/80) were done. RESULTS: Eleven cases with glottic cancer(5 Tla, 3 Tlb, 1 T3 and 2 T4) and 5 cases with supraglottic cancer (1 T1, 1 T3 and 1 T4) were included. Cancer tissue showed intermediate signal intensity on TIWI and high signal intensity on T2Wl. Among 16 cases, 13 cases were correctly staged and 3 cases were overstaged due to edema caused by previous biopsy, partial volume averaging effect of abutted lesion, or surrounding inflammation. CONCLUSION: MRI is an useful modality for diagnosis of laryngeal cancer, especially in evaluation of paraglottic extention on coronal image and cartilage invasion.