Efficacy of computed axial tomography in the evaluation of the involvement of the respiratory tract in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of esophagus

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Abstract
Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus is endemic in Rio Grande do Sul, the most southern state of Brazil, where the incidence reaches 27 out of 100,000 inhabitants per year. Palliative treatments, surgical or nonsurgical, impose lower mortality and lower costs. The choice of the best treatment for each patient depends on the neoplasia staging, and the local involvement of the tracheobronchial tree by tumor characterizes incurability. Computed axial tomography (CAT) is indicated, but remarkable contradictions were found in the literature. We studied 134 patients, diagnosed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, who underwent computed tomography and fiberoptic bronchoscopy (gold standard) performed with an uniform technique. An accuracy of 85.1% was obtained when computed tomography was compared with bronchoscopy with regard to impingement, displacement and invasion of trachea and bronchi. In conclusion, there is no statistically significant difference between computed tomography and fiberoptic bronchoscopy in the evaluation of tracheobronchial involvement by squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (p < 0.05).