Narrow band imaging versus laryngovideostroboscopy in precancerous and malignant vocal fold lesions.

Abstract

This is a comparative analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of narrow band imaging (NBI) and laryngovideostroboscopy (LVS) in the assessment of premalignant and malignant vocal fold lesions. A prospective analysis was performed on 105 consecutive patients with vocal fold lesions. The NBI and LVS were obtained before the microsurgery. The NBI and LVS showed no significant differences in identifying premalignant and malignant pathologies. However, in analysis restricted to identification of only malignant lesions, the specificity (88.9% vs 20.6%), accuracy (90.5% vs 51.4%), and positive predictive value (PPV; 84.8% vs 45.1%) were significantly higher for NBI (P value < .001; .015; and .045, respectively). A comparison of LVS scored results relative to each NBI type revealed statistically significant differences (P < .001). A moderate positive correlation between NBI and LVS was demonstrated (P = .54). The NBI and LVS are useful, complementary tools in evaluating early potential vocal fold malignancies. The NBI was superior to LVS on several statistical analyses.