Analysis of cervical lymph node metastasis of the contralateral side from head and neck squamous cell carcinomas

Abstract

We retrospectively reviewed 146 patients to research patterns of lymph node metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas in both the ipsilateral and contralateral sides, and the risk factors of the contralateral side, as well as to estimate the usefulness of fluoro-deoxy-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Lymph node metastasis was confirmed histologically in 60.3% of the patients. The rate of lymph node metastasis of the contralateral side for cN0 was very low. The sensitivity and specificity of evaluation of contralateral neck status with FDG-PET were 58.8% and 96.9%, respectively. Three clinical factors were significantly associated with contralateral lymph node metastasis, suggesting they are significant risk factors.