Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography are important additional methods for the diagnosis of oral cavity diseases. The technical aspects of both methods are discussed including their advantages and limitations. The anatomy of the oral cavity is reviewed as well as some characteristics of squamous cell carcinoma, which is the most frequent neoplasia in this region.

Keywords: Oral cavity, Computed tomography, Magnetic resonance imaging

The authors studied seven patients with gingival carcinoma attended at the Head and Neck Surgery and Otorrhinolaryngology Service and the Diagnostic Imaging Service of "Complexo Hospitalar Heliópolis", São Paulo, SP, Brazil, between 1985 and 1996. Squamous cell type carcinomas were identified in all cases. All patients were male (100%) aged 48-72 years. Computed tomography was performed in six patients (85.6%). Four patients (57.1%) had not received any treatment before imaging examination whereas three patients (42.8%) had already been submitted to surgery or radiotherapy. The authors analyzed the primary site of the tumor and its extension to the mandible (5/7 cases; 71.4%), the floor of the mouth (3/7 cases; 42.8%), the floor of the maxillary sinus (1/7 cases; 14.2%) and the retromolar trigonum (1/7 cases; 14.2%). Metastatic lymph nodes were observed in five patients (71.4%). Diagnosis was confirmed by biopsy and histopathological examination in all cases. Comparison with surgical findings was possible in five cases (71.4%).

Keywords: Gingiva, Malignant tumors, Gingiva

In this case report we discuss the importance of panoramic x-ray as an auxiliary tool for the diagnosis, initial treatment and follow-up of patients with periodontal disease. The case presented involved an interdisciplinary approach between orthodontics and periodontics. A female patient with advanced periodontal disease was treated with the forced orthodontical eruption technique that resulted in bone and gingival growth at the end of the treatment. Placement of the implants and dental prostheses was also performed in an innovative approach of immediate prosthetic loading, i.e. implants and teeth placed within a 48 hours interval. These results indicate that our studies should continue since bone growth was obtained without a bone graft, the time of the treatment did not exceed 120 days, and that we may in future obtain further results that will contribute to surpass serious periodontal diseases without the need of several surgical stages, reducing the time of treatment, morbidity and costs.

Keywords: Periodontitis, Orthodontic extraction, Forced orthodontical eruption, Panoramic x-ray, Orthodontics, Periodontics, Dental implant

We reviewed the case notes and computed tomography scans of 22 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the vocal cord, in the period between 1992 and 1998. Interobserver concordance for all cases and accuracy and concordance between the methods for the operated patients were evaluated using the kappa test. Concordance was classified as follows: excellent for evaluating tumoral involvement of the thyroid and cricoid cartilages, extralaryngeal extension and lymph node staging; very good for tumoral involvement of vocal cords, posterior commissure and paraglottic space; good for tumoral involvement of the supraglottic and subglottic regions and tumoral staging; regular for tumoral involvement of the anterior commissure and arytenoid cartilage. The combination of clinical and computed tomography evaluation for T staging resulted in an accuracy and concordance with the pathological results of 89.47% and 84.9%, respectively, which were superior to isolated clinical or computed tomography analysis. The accuracy and pathological concordance of computed tomography for N staging was 100%, which was superior to clinical evaluation.

Keywords: Squamous cell carcinoma. Vocal cord. Computed tomography.

The advent of computed tomography permitted a much more precise evaluation of tumor localization, thus facilitating presurgical staging. The objective of this study was to evaluate the interobserver agreement on the analysis of computed tomography scans of 15 patients with juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma, regarding assessment of tumor extension to sites of high recurrence rate. All patients were male and had a mean age of 15.8 years. The results of the interobserver agreement analysis regarding tumor invasion and extension to the infratemporal fossa, cavernous sinus, sphenoid sinus and medium cranial fossa were excellent. Identification of involvement of the superior orbital fissure was considered good. Interobserver agreement regarding tumor extension to the base of pterigoid process and anterior cranial fossa was considered poor. We concluded that there is a very good interobserver agreement on the evaluation of the established localization of tumor invasion, except when evaluating the base of the pterigoid process and the anterior cranial fossa.

Keywords: Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma. Computed tomography. Interobserver agreement.