Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Contribution of Ultrasonography to the Diagnosis of Submucosal and Subcutaneous Nodular Lesions of the Oral and Maxillofacial Region: Analysis of Cases

  • Clinical Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of ultrasonography in the establishment of the diagnosis of nonspecific nodular lesions of the oral soft tissues. We determined the indication of use and reliability of ultrasonography in the field of dentistry, considering whether it was of value in the conclusive diagnosis of these pathologies.

Materials and Methods

We recruited 65 patients from the Oral Medicine Unit of São Lucas Hospital, who had submucosal and subcutaneous nodules, without established diagnosis. They were subjected to ultrasonography of the lesion, carried out with standardization of the protocol and equipment, utilizing a Doppler system. The ultrasonographic report was prepared by an experienced professional, noting the imaging characteristics as well as the possibility of diagnosis. Two calibrated examiners analyzed the data, comparing the ultrasonographic report with the final diagnosis. Accordingly, we used established scoring, where zero corresponded to no contribution to the final diagnosis, 1 helped in the management of the case, and 2 when imaging determined the diagnosis.

Results

A zero score was obtained for 12.3 % of the examinations performed, and 1 and 2 accounted for respectively 41.5 and 46.1 %, totaling a contribution of about 88 %. Ultrasonography was of value in the diagnosis of vascular lesions in 93.3 % and of neoplasms in 87.5 %. In the salivary gland diseases, it contributed to the final diagnosis in 75 %.

Conclusion

The results demonstrated that ultrasonography is an effective tool in the determination of the definitive diagnosis of nonspecific nodular lesions of the soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Shung KK (2005) Diagnostic ultrasound: imaging and blood flow measurements. CRC Press, Florida

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. Sniezek JC (2010) Head and neck ultrasound: why now? Otolaryngol Clin North Am 43(6):1143–1147

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Thiruchelvam JK, Songra AK (2002) Intraoperative ultrasound imaging to AID abscess drainage: a technical note. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg 31(4):442–443

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Koischwitz D, Gritzmann N (2000) Ultrasound of the neck. Radiol Clinics North Am 38(5):1029–1045

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Oeppen RS, Gibson D, Brennan PA (2010) An update on the use of ultrasound imaging in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg 48(6):412–418

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Salmon B, Le Denmat D (2012) Intraoral ultrasonography: development of a specific high-frequency probe and clinical pilot study. Clin Oral Invest 16(2):643–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Pfeiffer J, Ridder GJ (2012) Diagnostic value of ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy in patients with salivary gland masses. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg 41(4):437–443

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Srinivas K, Sumanth KN, Chopra SS (2009) Ultrasonographic evaluation of inflammatory swellings of buccal space. Indian J Dent Res 20(4):458–462

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Chandak R, Degwekar S, Bhowte RR, Motwani M, Banode P, Chandak M, Rawlani S (2011) An evaluation of efficacy of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of head and neck swellings. Dentomaxillofac Radiol 40(2):213–221

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Mallorie CN, Jones SD, Drage NA, Shepherd J (2012) The reliability of high resolution ultrasound in the identification of pus collections in head and neck swellings. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 41(2):252–255

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Gaspari R, Dayno M, Briones J, Blehar D (2012) Comparison of computerized tomography and ultrasound for diagnosing soft tissue abscesses. Crit Ultrasound J 17(4):1–7

    Google Scholar 

  12. Nisha VA, Parthiban J, Santana N, Giridhar G, Devi BKY, Reddy SS, Rakesh N (2013) The role of colour Doppler ultrasonography in the diagnosis of fascial space infections: a cross-sectional study. J Clin Diagn Res 7(5):962–967

  13. Douglas AS, Jennings S, Owen VMF, Elliot S, Parker D (2005) Is ultrasound useful for evaluating paediatric inflammatory neck masses? Clin Otalaryngol 30(6):526–529

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Pallagatti S, Sheikh S, Puri N, Mittal A, Singh B (2012) To evaluate the efficacy of ultrasonography compared to clinical diagnostic radiography and histopathological findings in the diagnosis of maxillofacial swellings. Eur J Radiol 81(8):1821–1827

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Wong KT, Lee YY, King AD, Ahuja AT (2008) Imaging of cyst or cyst-like neck masses. Clin Radiol 63(6):613–622

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Baurmash HD, Worth L (1999) Ultrasonography in the diagnosis and treatment of facial abscess. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 57(5):635–636

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Ntomouchtsis A, Karakinaris G, Poulolpoulos A, Kechagias N, Kittikidou K, Tsompanidou C, Vahtsevanos K, Antoniades K (2010) Benign lip lesions: a 10-year retrospective study. Oral Maxillofac Surg 14(2):115–118

  18. Wortsman X, Calderón P, Arellano J, Orellana Y (2009) High-resolution color Doppler ultrasound of a caliber-persistent artery of the lip, a simulator variant of a dermatologic disease: case report and sonographic findings. Int J Dermatol 48(8):830–833

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Oates CP, Wilson AW, Ward-Booth RP, Williams ED (1990) Combined use of Doppler and conventional ultrasound for diagnosis of vascular and other lesions in the head and neck. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg 19(4):235–239

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Gritzmann N (1989) Sonography of the salivary glands. Am J Roentgenol 153(1):161–166

  21. Howlett DC (2003) High resolution ultrasound assessment of the parotid gland. Br J Radiol 76(904):271–277

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Pozza DH, Soares LP, Oliveira MG (2005) Exames complementares por imagens no diagnóstico e no planejamento cirúrgico de patologias em glândulas salivares. Rev Bras Patol Oral 4(3):156–161

    Google Scholar 

  23. Senthilkumar B, Mahabob MN (2012) Mucocele: an usual presentation of the minor salivary gland lesion. J Pharm Bioallied Sci 4(2):180–182

  24. O’Conner R, McGurk M (2013) The plunging ranula: diagnostic difficulties and a less invasive approach to treatment. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. doi:10.1016/j.ijom.2013.03.019

    Google Scholar 

  25. Orlandi MA, Pistorio V, Guerra PA (2013) Ultrasound in sialadenitis. J Ultrasound 16(1):3–9

  26. Onkar PM, Ratnaparkhi C, Mitra K (2013) High-frequency ultrasound in parotid gland diseases. Ultrasound Q 29(4):313–321

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Zengel P, Schrötzlmair F, Reichel C, Paprottka P, Clevert DA (2013) Sonography: the leading diagnostic tool for diseases of the salivary glands. Semin Ultrasound CT MR 34(3):196–203

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Millesi W, Prayer L, Helmer M, Gritzmann N (1990) Diagnostic imaging of tumor invasion of the mandible. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg 19(5):294–298

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Hodder SC, Evans RM, Patton DW, Silvester KC (2000) Ultrasound and fine needle aspiration cytology in the staging of neck lymph nodes in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg 38(5):430–436

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Haberal I, Celik H, Göçmen H, Akmansu H, Yörük M, Ozeri C (2004) Which is important in the evaluation of metastatic lymph nodes in head and neck cancer: palpation, ultrasonography, or computed tomography? Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 130(2):197–201

  31. Anand N, Chaundhary N, Mittal MK, Prasad R (2007) Comparison of the efficacy of clinical examination, ultrasound neck and computed tomography in detection and staging of cervical lymph node metastasis in the head and neck. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 59(1):19–23

  32. Hohlweg-Majert B, Metzger MC, Voss PJ, Hölzle F, Wolff KD, Schulze D (2009) Preoperative cervical lymph node size evaluation in patients with malignant head/neck tumors: comparison between ultrasound and computer tomography. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 135(6):753–759

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Ng SY, Songra A, Ali N, Carter JL (2001) Ultrasound features of osteosarcoma of the mandible: a first report. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 92(5):582–586

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. McCann PJ, Brocklebank LM, Ayoub AF (2000) Assessment of zygomatico-orbital complex fractures using ultrasonography. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg 38(5):525–529

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Dupuy-Bonafé I, Picot MC, Maldonado IL, Lachiche V, Granier I, Bonafé A (2012) Internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint: is there still a place for ultrasound? Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol 113(6):832–840

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oral Medicine Unit, São Lucas Hospital, Dentistry School, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), 6690 Ipiranga avenue – 2nd floor/room 231, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 90610-000, Brazil

    Felipe Leal Martins, Fernanda Gonçalves Salum, Karen Cherubini & Maria Antonia Zancanaro de Figueiredo

  2. Brazilian College of Radiology, São Paulo, Brazil

    Roberto Oliveira

  3. Clinical Radiology Unit, Radiology and Ecography Foundation of Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Roberto Oliveira

  4. Serviço de Estomatologia do Hospital São Lucas, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Av. Ipiranga, 6690 – 2º andar/sala 231, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 90610-000, Brazil

    Maria Antonia Zancanaro de Figueiredo

Authors
  1. Felipe Leal Martins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Fernanda Gonçalves Salum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karen Cherubini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Roberto Oliveira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Maria Antonia Zancanaro de Figueiredo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Antonia Zancanaro de Figueiredo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Martins, F.L., Salum, F.G., Cherubini, K. et al. Contribution of Ultrasonography to the Diagnosis of Submucosal and Subcutaneous Nodular Lesions of the Oral and Maxillofacial Region: Analysis of Cases. J. Maxillofac. Oral Surg. 14, 706–712 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12663-014-0714-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12663-014-0714-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation