Management of cystic cervical metastasis

18F-FDG PET/CT to differentiate malignant necrotic lymph node from benign cystic lesions in the neck

OBJECTIVE

Patients presenting with cystic lesions in the neck without obvious signs of malignancy constitute a diagnostic challenge since fine needle aspiration is often insufficient and a diagnosis may not be reached until surgical resection/biopsy is performed. The differential diagnosis of a cystic cervical mass comprises a variety of benign conditions, but malignancy must be ruled out. We examined the diagnostic performance of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) PET/CT to identify malignancy.

METHODS

We retrospectively included consecutive patients referred from the Department of ENT Head and Neck Surgery for ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT-scans because of a solitary neck cyst. Scan results were compared to histopathology and follow-up.

RESULTS

The study comprised 58 patients. Twenty patients (34%) were diagnosed with cancer during follow-up. PET/CT suggested malignancy in 34 patients (19 true positive, 15 false positive) and showed no malignancy in 24 (23 true negative, 1 false negative). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values were 95% (76-99%), 61% (45-74%), 72% (60-82%), 56% (39-71%), and 96% (80-99%), respectively (95% confidence intervals in brackets). The primary tumor was identified in 14 out of the 20 patients with confirmed cancer. Increased metabolism, as evaluated by PET, was the only imaging characteristic among several others, which associated independently with malignancy in the cystic neck lesions, odds ratio 1.27 (1.07-1.50), p = 0.006.

CONCLUSION

¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT could reliably rule out malignancy (NPV 96%), albeit with a high frequency of false positive scans, requiring further diagnostic work-up. Increased metabolism was the best imaging parameter to differentiate between malignant and benign lesions.

Fine needle aspiration cytology versus frozen section in branchial cleft cysts

BACKGROUND

Branchial cleft cysts occur because of a failure of involution of the second branchial cleft. However, as well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma can mimic branchial cleft cysts, there is a lack of consensus on the appropriate management of cystic neck lumps.

OBJECTIVE

To report our experience of fine needle aspiration cytology and frozen section examination in the management of cystic neck lumps.

METHOD

Retrospective case note review of patients managed in the Southern General Hospital, Scotland, UK.

RESULTS

The sensitivity of fine needle aspiration cytology and frozen section for detecting branchial cleft cysts was 75 per cent and 100 per cent respectively. Two patients who did not undergo intra-operative frozen section examination were either over- or under-treated, which is discussed.

CONCLUSION

Adult patients subjected to surgical excision of a suspected branchial cyst should undergo intra-operative frozen section analysis regardless of clinical suspicion for malignancy. This part of management is critical to ensure patients are offered appropriate treatment.

Cystic metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma presenting as branchial cleft cyst: report of two cases and review of the literature

PURPOSE

To describe the differential diagnosis between solitary cystic metastatic carcinoma from branchial cleft cyst and provide references for clinicians to treat cystic metastases from primary sites of the head and neck region.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Two cases of cystic metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are presented and a review of the relevant English literature on cystic metastasis from head and neck cancer was performed.

RESULTS

Two adult patients with a lateral cystic neck mass were initially clinically diagnosed as branchial cleft cysts. Based on the postoperative histopathologic examination and nasopharyngeal blind biopsy, they were finally diagnosed as cystic metastases from occult nasopharyngeal carcinoma. After a review of the literature, diagnostic strategies, histopathologic features, and therapeutic options for cervical cystic metastases were discussed.

CONCLUSION

Cervical cystic metastasis of NPC in adults may mimic branchial cleft cyst in clinical, radiological, and even histological features. Surgeons should bear in mind that when lateral neck cysts with characteristics of suspected malignancy are confronted, nasopharynx examination, including blind or random biopsy, is highly recommended before surgery. Metastatic disease should always be considered as a potential differential diagnosis in adult patients with a cystic neck lesion. Correct diagnosis is important so that appropriate surgical and radiotherapeutic treatment can be delivered.

Contemporary management of lymph node metastases from an unknown primary to the neck: I. A review of diagnostic approaches

In an era of advanced diagnostics, metastasis to cervical lymph nodes from an occult primary tumor is a rare clinical entity and accounts for approximately 3% of head and neck malignancies. Histologically, two thirds of cases are squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), with other tissue types less common in the neck. With modern imaging and tissue examinations, a primary tumor initially undetected on physical examination is revealed in >50% of patients and the site of the index primary can be predicted with a high level of probability. In the present review, the range and limitations of diagnostic procedures are summarized and the optimal diagnostic workup is proposed. Initial preferred diagnostic procedures are a fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and imaging. This allows directed surgical biopsy (such as tonsillectomy), based on the preliminary findings, and prevents misinterpretation of postsurgical images. When no primary lesion is suggested after imaging and panendoscopy, and for patients without a history of smoking and alcohol abuse, molecular profiling of an FNAB sample for human papillomavirus (HPV) and/or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is important.

Role of fine needle aspiration cytology in the preoperative investigation of branchial cysts

BACKGROUND

Successful preoperative diagnosis of a branchial cyst requires a systematic approach. The aim of this study was to evaluate methods of investigation of a lateral neck swelling suspicious for a branchial cyst, and to highlight cases where a less benign cause for the swelling should be suspected and therefore management altered appropriately.

METHODS

A retrospective case study of 24 patients with presumed branchial cysts managed operatively was undertaken. Demographic, clinical, imaging, cytology and histopathological data were analysed to formulate an approach to the work-up of a lateral neck swelling suspected to be a branchial cyst.

RESULTS

All 24 patients presented with a lateral neck mass thought to be a branchial cyst preoperatively underwent preoperative fine-needle aspiration cytology. The overall accuracy of cytology in predicting a benign branchial cyst histopathologically was 83.3% (20 out of 24).

CONCLUSION

Successful preoperative diagnosis of a branchial cyst requires a combination of imaging and cytology. If there is concern that a lateral neck swelling is not a branchial cyst on clinical, imaging or cytological features, then a full preoperative work-up, including computed tomography scan of the neck and upper aero-digestive tract endoscopy should be performed, prior to an excisional biopsy.

The role of ultrasound in the detection of cervical lymph node metastases in clinically N0 squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Nodal involvement is the most important prognostic factor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) of mucosal origin. The presence of a single ipsilateral or contralateral metastatic node reduces survival by 50% and bilateral disease by a further 50%. The management of N+ HNSCC is relatively clear-cut. By contrast, the investigation and treatment of patients with clinically N0 disease is controversial. Most institutions electively treat the neck with surgery or radiotherapy because the risk of occult metastases is over 20%, even though it will be unnecessary in the majority of cases. In this situation the main purpose of staging would be to assess those nodes that are not going to be removed. However, the optimal management of the clinically N0 neck remains controversial and there is growing interest in a more conservative approach. Research is now directed toward finding a method of staging sensitive enough to bring the risk of occult metastases below 20%. High spatial resolution, ease of multiplanar scanning, power Doppler and the ability to perform guided fine-needle aspiration for cytology give ultrasound (US) an advantage over other imaging techniques.

Squamous carcinoma arising in a branchial cleft cyst: have you ever treated one? Will you?

The existence of primary branchiogenic carcinoma - that is, carcinoma arising in a pre-existing branchial cleft cyst (a benign developmental cyst) - has in recent decades been the subject of increasing scepticism. Recognition of the propensity of a variety of head and neck sites - including in particular the tonsil - to give rise to cervical metastases while the primary tumours themselves remain undetected has given rise to the idea that virtually all cystic carcinomas of the neck represent metastatic deposits, whether or not their primary sites are found. A diagnosis of primary branchiogenic carcinoma should be viewed with extreme scepticism, and every effort should be made (e.g. imaging, panendoscopy, elective tonsillectomy) to exclude the existence of a primary site elsewhere, before considering a diagnosis of primary branchiogenic carcinoma.

Cystic metastasis from head and neck squamous cell cancer: a distinct disease variant?

BACKGROUND

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) commonly spreads to regional deep cervical nodes. In most cases, these metastases present as firm, solid masses in the designated lymph node chains. A distinct subset of metastatic nodes present as cystic masses, with most of the volume made up of a liquid center surrounded by a thin solid rim. It has been observed that certain squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) subsites are more likely to produce metastases that are cystic. These sites predominantly include primary tumors of tonsil tissue from Waldeyer's ring. In the past, these cystic cancers often have been erroneously diagnosed as branchiogenic carcinomas, that is, a branchial cleft cyst that has undergone malignant degeneration. Today, most authors have concluded that so-called branchiogenic carcinomas are actually cystic metastases in the neck probably arising from an oropharyngeal primary SCC. The purpose of this work is to consider the phenomenon of cystic lymph node metastasis in head and neck cancer in depth.

METHODS

A review of the relevant English-language literature linking cystic metastasis and head and neck cancer was performed.

RESULTS

These studies indicate that lateral cystic masses in adults often represent an occult primary cancer originating in the epithelium within Waldeyer's ring.

CONCLUSIONS

Adult patients who are initially seen with a lateral cystic neck mass must be presumed to have a cancer until proven otherwise. The mass should be biopsied by fine-needle aspiration (FNA). However, negative FNA findings may be misleading; therefore, an excisional biopsy and examination under anesthesia with directed biopsies of Waldeyer's ring and bilateral tonsillectomy should be considered a part of the diagnostic workup.

Cross-sectional imaging combined with 3D-MR angiography (3D-MRA): diagnostic tool for preoperative vascular assessment of head and neck tumors

BACKGROUND

Head and neck cancer accounts for 5% of all malignancies worldwide. The presence of lymph node metastases and vascular infiltration influence patient outcome. This prospective study describes the preoperative morphologic assessment of the vascular status of patients with head and neck tumors by means of high spatial resolution and extended coverage of the arterial and venous system reaching from the supra-aortic region to the skull base.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Cross-sectional imaging combined with contrast-enhanced 3D-maximum intensity projection MR angiography (3D-MRA) was applied using a dedicated head and neck coil with a 4-channel panorama array system interface to assess vascular involvement in patients with suspected head and neck cancer. 32 patients underwent preoperative assessment by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The results were then correlated with surgical and histological findings.

RESULTS

3 of the 32 patients (9%) demonstrated involvement of the arterial system. In 2 of these 3 cases, MRA correctly predicted the arterial status, while in 1 case it gave a false negative result. 11 of the 32 patients (34%) presented with involvement of the venous system. 10 cases showed complete concordance between the findings of the MR venography and the intraoperative status, while in 1 case a false negative result was produced.

CONCLUSION

In patients with suspected head and neck tumors, 3D-MRA in combination with cross sectional imaging is a valuable diagnostic tool for the detection of vascular involvement.