Comparison of SPECT and CT in detecting skull base invasion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the detecting ability of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and CT in skull base invasion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods Sixty three patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were examined by whole body and skull base SPECT and CT of nasopharynx and skull base before radiotherapy. The results were double blind compared and evaluated. Results The overall positive rates of skull base invasion detected by SPECT and CT were 63.5% and 25.4%. In patients with headache, cranial nerve palsy and both, they were 87.9%,93.3%,92.3% and 42.4%,46.7%,46.2%. In patients with T 1+T 2 and T 3+T 4 lesions, they were 37.5%,90.3% and 0.0%,51.6%. In patients with N 0+N 1 and N 2+N 3 lesions, they were 63.9% ,63.0% and 19.4%,33.3%. The positive rates of SPECT were higher than those of CT (McNemar Test, P