Diagnostic ability of axial SPIR imaging for detecting metastatic nodes in the neck
| Criteria for Metastatic Node | Level of Neck* | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| I | II | III | |
| Size cutoff point (mm) | |||
| ≥5 | 100/44/22/100 | 100/36/54/100 | 100/84/68/100 |
| ≥6 | 100/64/31/100 | 100/42/57/100 | 87/86/68/95 |
| ≥7 | 88/78/39/98 | 96/48/59/94 | 87/90/76/95 |
| ≥8 | 88/88/54/98 | 92/64/66/91 | 87/91/76/95 |
| ≥9 | 88/96/78/98 | 80/82/77/84 | 80/98/92/93 |
| ≥10 | 63/100/100/94 | 80/88/83/85 | 80/100/100/93 |
Note:—SPIR indicates axial fat-suppressed T2-weighted; PPV, positive predictive value; NPV, negative predictive value.
* Values are expressed as percentages as follows: sensitivity/specificity/PPV/NPV. Bold data indicate compromised diagnostic ability at each level.