ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Gold standard in the evaluation of upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) lesions is white light endoscopy followed by invasive tissue biopsy. This procedure is time consuming and expensive. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive method, which provides high resolution, cross-sectional images of superficial tissue layers in real time. OBJECTIVE: This article aims to present a contemporary and comprehensive review on the role of OCT in differentiating between epithelial dysplasias and early invasive carcinomas of the UADT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed was searched using "optical coherence tomography/larynx" and other appropriate search strings in August 2015. RESULTS: OCT enables differentiation between benign, premalignant, and early malignant lesions of the UADT with high sensitivity and specificity. In addition, OCT holds promise as a clinical tool for guidance of surgical biopsies, follow-up of recurrent lesions, and for demarcation of tumor margins. Inadequate evidence and technical limitations hamper implementation of OCT into clinical routine. CONCLUSION: If the aforementioned problems are successfully solved, OCT seems to have the potential to substantially improve both diagnosis and management of precancerous and early cancerous lesions of the UADT.
