Value of transoral ultrasound guided biopsy for oral tumors

Objective To determine the value of transoral ultrasound (US) guided biopsy for oral tumors. Methods A consecutive series of 36 patients who underwent transoral US-guided biopsy of oral tumors were evaluated retrospectively. By testing against histopathological results after surgery, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of transoral US-guided biopsy for oral tumors were calculated. ROC curves were plotted and the area under the curve were evaluated. Results All 36 lesions were successfully performed transoral US-guided biopsy. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of this technique for the diagnosis of oral lesions were 87.0%, 100%, 100%, 81.3% and 91.7% respectively. In ROC curve analysis, the area under the curve was 0.935. No serious complications were observed. Conclusions Transoral US-guided biopsy can be considered as a safe and effective technology for early diagnosis and clinical treatment of oral tumors. Key words: Ultrasonography; Mouth neoplasms; Transoral ultrasound guided; Biopsy