Correlative 201Tl SPECT, MRI and ex vivo 201Tl uptake in detecting and characterizing cervical lymphadenopathy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Abstract

Although 201Tl SPECT is not sensitive enough to be used as an independent imaging modality for staging of the neck, its correlative application with MRI appears to be an accurate method for the assessment of regional spread in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The ability of 201Tl SPECT to characterize neck lymphadenopathies detected by MRI appears to be based on the difference in 201Tl concentration found in lymph nodes with and without tumor involvement.