Clinical value of endosonography in the assessment of laryngeal cancer.

BACKGROUND Endosonography has been successfully used in staging gastrointestinal cancer, but its value is as yet undetermined in laryngology. METHODS This prospective study includes 84 patients undergoing microlaryngoscopy for laryngeal cancer. The results of endosonography were compared with those of CT and MRI in the 76 surgical cases. RESULTS In the assessment of laryngal cancer, endosonography was superior to current imaging techniques, whereas CT and MRI showed similar results (accuracy of 89% vs 77% and 77%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This study confirms that endosonography is highly effective in staging laryngeal cancer. Therefore, the latter may constitute a complementary diagnostic tool in these tumors and additionally may assist in choosing an adequate treatment.