The value of computed tomography in the diagnosis of the local and lymph node recurrences of head and neck tumors

544 CT studies of 231 patients were evaluated retrospectively to assess the role of CT in posttherapeutic monitoring of patients with head and neck tumours. CT (80%) was inferior to clinical evaluation (87%) in diagnosing recurrent malignancy due to a lack of specificity (76 vs. 92%). With CT small recurrencies were missed. Occasionally evaluation of the oral cavity was impaired by metal artifacts (dental fillings). However with larger recurrent tumours, CT offered important additional information regarding extent, infiltration of deeper compartments and bony destruction in 51% of the cases. CT (95%) was superior to clinical evaluation (80%) in diagnosing recurrent lymph node metastases. A baseline CT study at about 6-8 weeks after the end of therapy is of great importance for follow-up studies.