Ning-yi Li, DDS,(a) Jian Sun, DDS,(a) Mu-yun Jia, DDS,(a) Xiao-ming Jin, DDS,(a) Wei Shang, DDS,(a) and Shu-yao Zuo, DDS(b)
(a)Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and (b)Department of Nuclear Medicine, Qingdao University Medical College Affiliated Hospital, Qingdao, P. R. China
Purpose: To compare the effects of gallium-67 (Ga-67) scintigraphy with computerized tomography (CT) scanning in the diagnosis of head and neck neoplasm.
Materials and Methods: Eighty-three patients with neoplasm in head and neck underwent local CT scanning and Ga-67 scintigraphy preoperatively. The results were verified pathologically after operation.
Results: In total 43 cases of benign neoplasm according to pathological examination, 21 cases (42.5%) were identified using CT preoperatively, 36 cases (83.7%) were identified using Ga-67 scintigraphy. Significant difference can be found between Ga-67 scintigraphy and CT scanning in identifying the behavioral classification of tumors. The remaining 40 cases were malignant neoplasm, and 17 cases (42.5%) were identified or suspected to be malignant using CT scanning, while 37 cases (92.5%) were identified using Ga-67 scintigraphy. There was still significant difference between these two methods.
Conclusion: CT shows advantages in identification of tumor size, location, internal structure, and syntopy, while Ga-67 scintigraphy has advantages in identification of behavioral classification and metastasis of tumors. (Int Chin J Dent 2004; 4: 34-39.)
Clinical Significance: The results of this study demonstrate that Ga-67 scintigraphy is a useful clinical approach in tumor diagnosis, especially in identification of behavioral classification of tumors, that is, benign tumor or malignant one, and in judgment of metastasis.
Key Words: computerized tomography, diagnosis, gallium-67, head, neck, neoplasm.