Departments of Otolaryngology-

Background and ObjectivesZZCervical lymph node metastasis is a very important prognos-tic factor of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Therefore, strict evaluation of cervical lymph node metastasis is necessary for accurate staging and proper treatment plan-ning. This study compares computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to position emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), and evaluates the clinical role of PET-CT in the diagnosis of cervical metastasis of HNSCC. Subjects and MethodZZFrom October 2004 to September 2010, we studied 74 patients with HNSCC who underwent PET-CT, CT and MRI before undergoing neck dissection for the treat-ment of cervical lymph node metastasis. We compared pathologic results of 374 cervical lymph node levels in 74 patients with results of PET-CT, CT and MRI. We analyzed and compared sensitivity, specificity, predictability and accuracy of the three imaging methods. ResultsZZAmong the 74 patients, 49 (66.2%) patients had positive cervical lymph node me