Trends in Imaging Diagnosis: Current Topics and Problems in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Laryngopharynx

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become firmly established as a useful diagnostic tool for the evaluation of T-staging in head and neck cancer, including laryngopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. However, there is often an inadequate contrast between normal tissue and the carcinoma even in MRI. It is especially difficult to assess the presence or absence of neoplastic invasion of the laryngeal cartilage on conventional T1- and T2-weighted images. Fat-suppressed MRI may settle this matter. Frequently, MRI for patients with laryngopharyngeal cancer may be incomplete because their involuntary motion may severely degrade the quality of the obtained images. We can expect that the latest advances in fast scan techniques will overcome this problem. This essay describes recent progress in MRI techniques aimed at improving the imaging cancer arising from laryngopharynx.