Comparison between magnetic resonance and computed tomography in detecting mandibular invasion in oral cancer: A systematic review and diagnostic meta-analysis: MRI x CT in mandibular invasion.

Background: Suspicion of mandibular invasion directly influences perioperative strategy, requiring marginal or segmental mandibulectomy, or reconstruction in some cases. This has a considerable impact on outcome and quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of magnetic resonance and computed tomography in the prediction of mandibular invasion in patients with oral cavity cancer.
Method: A systematic review was conducted, including diagnostic studies comparing magnetic resonance imaging with computed tomography in the prediction of bone invasion. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood values and summary receiver operating characteristic (sROC) curves were calculated.
Results: The electronic and manual search identified 346 articles. Of these, 11 studies were included in the systematic review for a total of 477 patients. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood values for MRI were 78%, 86%, 5.29 and 0.23, respectively. For CT, they were 76%, 89%, 6.00 and 0.28, respectively. The sROC curves for MRI and CT were 82.3% and 82.5%, respectively.
Conclusion: No superiority was observed between the diagnostic methods regarding mandibular invasion detection.
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