Table 1.
Characteristics of 193 subjects enrolled in this study.
Fig 1.
Relationship between SUVmax of primary tumor (pSUVmax) and lymph node metastasis.
Fig 1 shows that the pSUVmax was associated with both LN metastasis (p < 0.001) in the FDG avidity group (n = 118).
Fig 2.
Relationship between pSUVmax and N stage*.
Fig 2 shows that the pSUVmax was associated with N stage (p < 0.001) in the FDG avidity group (n = 118).* Based on TNM (tumor, node, metastasis) staging system defined by the American Joint Committee on Cancer.
Table 2.
Characteristics of patients according to FDG avidity.
Fig 3.
Predictability of central lymph node metastasis by SUVmax of primary tumor (pSUVmax) and ultrasonography (US).
Compared to US, the pSUVmax criterion had a significantly higher sensitivity (p <0.001) for predicting central LN metastasis, but a lower specificity (p < 0.05).