Comparative Study Between Virtual Laryngoscopy And Direct Laryngoscopy In Diagnosis Of Cancer Larynx:

Ashraf Anwar Attia Ashmawy

Virtual laryngoscopy is a useful adjunctive radiological tool in the.assessment oflaryngeallesions. It is one of the most recent innovations inthe spectrum of post processing techniques. Virtual laryngoscopy is atype of three dimensional reconstruction in which the observation point isplaced within the airways to produce an endoscopic like display withoutthe use of endoscope.Thirty patients diagnosed as a laryngeal carcinoma were examinedin the national cancer instituted, Cairo University. The patients weresubjected to both virtual and fiberoptic laryngoscopy. Virtual studieswere calculated and reconstructed from cross sectional images obtainedfrom spiral CT. examination of the neck, on a separate work station usinga special software. Comparison between the results of cross sectionalimages, virtual, fiberopitc laryngoscapy and pathological specimens weredone.An excellent overview of the larynx was obtained in all cases. Theresults of the virtual layngoscopy and fiberopitc laryngoscopy werecomparable. Although fiberoptic laryngoscopy has the advantage ofproviding direct cues to colour, vascularity, and motility and can alsodetect early tumor infiltration by picking up subtle mucosal changes,virtual laryngoscopy is considered superior in by passing any obstructionthus providing an excellent view distal to an obstructing lesion can’t betraversed endoscopically. Also, CTVE clearly visualizes the differentanatomical regions of the larynx in combination with the cross sectionalimages thus filling in any diagnostic gaps. The combination of virtuallaryngoscopy with the axial CT images had correctly upstaged 100% ofcases with laryngeal carcinoma compared to that of fiberapticlaryngoscopy which was 66.6%.