ABSTRACT
Tumoral pathology is one of the most frequent reasons why cross-sectional imaging, such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is performed of the head and neck. Although mucosal abnormalities can be far better evaluated clinically, head and neck malignancies show the tendency to spread submucosally, and this extension into the deeply lying tissue planes is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to detect by clinical examination. Involvement of structures beyond clinical evaluation, such as the parapharyngeal space, base of the skull, pterygopalatine and infratemporal fossa, orbits, and brain, can be detected by CT and MRI. Perineural and/or perivascular spread, eventually leading to tumor progression or recurrences at distance from the primary tumor, can also be visualized (Figure 11.1). Imaging methods allow the detection of metastatic adenopathies, sometimes still in a subclinical stage or at places not accessible for clinical examination, such as the retropharyngeal space1.
