To evaluate the efficacy of ultrasonography compared to clinical diagnosis, radiography and histopathological findings in the diagnosis of maxillofacial swellings

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of Ultrasonography compared to clinical diagnosis, radiography and histopathological findings in the diagnosis of maxillofacial swellings. Material and methods: The study was conducted on forty-five patients with maxillofacial swellings. The clinical diagnosis, radiographic diagnosis and ultrasonographic diagnosis were made which was compared to the histopathological diagnosis. The maxillofacial swellings included cystic lesions, benign swellings, malignant swellings, lymphadenopathies and abscesses and space infections. Results: The diagnostic accuracy and contingency coefficient was evaluated considering histopathology as gold standard. The diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound was found to be 92.30% in the diagnosis of cystic lesions, 87.5% in benign tumors, 81.8% in malignant tumors, 100% in lymphadenopathies and 90% in space infections and abscesses. The contingency coefficient of 0.934 was obtained when ultrasonography was compared to the histopathology, which was highly significant. Similar significant results were obtained comparing ultrasonography with clinical diagnosis (0.895) and radiographic diagnosis (0.889). Conclusion: Ultrasonography provides accurate imaging of the head and neck region and provides information about the nature of the lesion, its extent, and relationship with the surrounding structures. As the conventional and digital radiography enable the diagnosis of the presence of the disease, but do not give any indication of its nature. So, together with clinical and histopathological examinations, real time ultrasound imaging works out as a valuable adjunct in the diagnosis of orofacial swellings.