Relationships between intraoral ultrasonographic and histopathological findings in patients with tongue cancer.

Background In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationships between histopathological and intraoral ultrasonographic (IUS) findings in patients with tongue cancer. Methods IUS and histopathological findings in 46 patients with tongue cancer were considered for this study. We assessed the relationships between IUS findings regarding tumor thickness, margin type, border type, and internal echo intensity; internal/peripheral Doppler findings; and muscle invasion and histopathological findings regarding tumor thickness, differentiation, Yamamoto-Kohama (YK)-classification grade, blood vessel invasion, lymphatic invasion, perineural invasion, and muscle invasion. Results Statistical associations were found between the following findings: between thickness determined through IUS measurement and that determined through histopathological measurement, between the IUS findings regarding tumor margin and border types and the histopathologically determined YK-classifications grades, and between a Doppler image of the internal area of tongue lesions and lymphatic invasion. Conclusions IUS findings may be used to predict histopathological findings about tumor thickness and YK-classification grades.