Diagnostic Accuracy of Computed Tomography in Diagnosing Mandibular Invasion in Patients with Already Known Oral Cancer

Abstract

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography (CT) in diagnosing mandibular invasion in patients with already known oral cancer taking histopathology as gold standard.

Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted at department of Radiology, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro, from June 2022 till May 2023. Patients aged 25-80 years, both male and female patients, already diagnosed for oral cancer by biopsy and histopathology, presenting with swelling or pain in the lower jaw, scheduled for surgery and undergoing preoperative CT examination of the oral cavity and mandible were included. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and diagnostic accuracy of CT scan were calculated using 2 x 2 contingency tables using histopathological findings as gold standard.

Results: Mean age of the patients was 55.01 ± 12.71 years and mean duration of symptoms was 11.23±4.95 months. CT scan showed sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value (PPV), negative predicted value (NPV) and overall diagnostic accuracy as 83.76%, 83.33%, 96.49%, 48.39% and 83.69% for detection of mandibular invasion taking histopathology as gold standard.

Conclusion: CT scan showed high sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy in diagnosis of mandibular invasion in cases of oral cancers.