Feasibility Study on Lugol's Iodine Enhanced Micro-CT Imaging to Assist Pathological Assessment of Lymph Node Status of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

doi:10.13701/j.cnki.kqyxyj.2025.12.009

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the status of regional lymph nodes in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) with Lugol's iodine enhanced micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) imaging. Methods: Seventy-five isolated lymph node samples were collected from OSCC patients, and were stained with 3% Lugol's iodine for 12 hours before Micro-CT scan. The samples were sliced by conventional hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining, and digital pathological sections were made. The evaluation of lymph node metastasis status by Micro-CT image and pathological image was compared. Results: Lugol's iodine enhanced Micro-CT imaging could delineate lymph node metastasis clearly. 2D pathological sections were used as gold standard, with specificity of 90.4%, sensitivity of 91.3%, and accuracy of 90.7%. Conclusion: Lugol's iodine enhanced Micro-CT imaging can accurately evaluate the status of isolated lymph node metastasis in OSCC in three dimensions, effectively reduce the missed diagnosis of microlymph node metastasis in simple two-dimensional pathological sections, and provide a more accurate basis for the formulation of postoperative adjuvant treatment for OSCC.

Key words: OSCC, lymph node, Lugol’s iodine, Micro-CT

GU Zhouyu, JIA Hui, WANG Yuxin, XIA Chengwan. Feasibility Study on Lugol's Iodine Enhanced Micro-CT Imaging to Assist Pathological Assessment of Lymph Node Status of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma[J]. Journal of Oral Science Research, 2025, 41(12): 1065-1069.

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