Prospective study of early detection of pharyngeal superficial carcinoma with the narrowband imaging laryngoscope.

BACKGROUND The newly developed narrowband imaging (NBI) gastrointestinal endoscope makes possible the detection of superficial carcinoma in the oropharynx and hypopharynx, which is difficult with the conventional laryngoscope. Here, we investigated whether the combined use of laryngoscope with NBI allows the detection of superficial carcinoma in this region. METHODS A total of 51 superficial, histologically confirmed lesions in 29 patients were studied. The quality of visualization of superficial carcinoma in the oropharynx and hypopharynx using the NBI-equipped laryngoscope was evaluated in comparison with the results by conventional laryngoscopy. RESULTS The NBI laryngoscope provided better detection of the irregular microvascular pattern of carcinoma than the conventional laryngoscope (p <.05) and better visualization of the demarcation line (p <.05), and thus significantly better visualization of the lesions. CONCLUSION The NBI laryngoscope may play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of superficial carcinoma in the oropharynx and hypopharynx.