Abstract
Twenty eight laryngectomy specimens from patients with glottic carcinoma were histopathologically investigated 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 (64.3%) and was found in 5 out of 6 patients with clinically positive cervical nodes (83.3%) and found in 8 out of 10 patients with histologically proved cervical node metastasis (80.0%).
2. Microvascular invasions were not found in 2 cases, treated with preoperative irradiation and chemotherapy, followed by cervical node metastasis.
3. Although statistically significant correlation was found between microvascular invasion at the primary site and lymph node metastasis in glottic carcinoma, the presence of microvascular invasion may cause an increased incidence of cervical lymph node metastasis in glottic carcinoma.
