Abstract
Forty laryngectomy specimens obtained from patients with laryngeal carcinoma (28 glottic, 12 supraglottic) were histopathologically studied by means of whole-organ serial sectioning, with paying special attention to microvascular invasion in the immediate vicinity of primary lesions.
1. Microvascular invasion was found in 18 out of 28 patients with glottic carcinoma (64.3%) and in 9 out of 12 patients with supraglottic carcinoma (75%).
2. Histologically proved cervical lymph-node metastases were found in 10 out of 28 patients with glottic carcinoma (35.7%) and in 8 out of 12 patients with supraglottic carcinoma (66.7%).
3. Although statistically significant correlation was not found between microvascular invasion at the primary site and cervical lymph node metastasis in laryngeal carcinoma, the presence of microvascular invasion may cause an increased incidence of cervical lymph node metastasis in both glottic and supraglottic carcinoma.
