Diagnostic utility of narrow-band imaging endoscopy for pharyngeal superficial carcinoma

Table 1 Clinicopathologic features of patients with pharyngeal superficial lesions

	Total	Non-SC	SC	P value
	(n = 445)	(n = 333)	(n = 112)
Age (yr)	63 ± 9	63 ± 10	64 ± 8
Male : female ratio	16:1	14:1	27:1
Lesion location (n)
Oropharynx/ hypopharynx	269/176	206/127	63/49
Lesion diameter (mm)	6.2 ± 5.6	4.6 ± 3.6	11.0 ± 7.6	< 0.0011
Histology (n)		Normal: 40	HGD: 35
		Inflammation: 115	SCC: 77
		Hyperplasia: 50
		Papilloma: 33
		Other2: 6
		LGD: 89

Where appropriate, data are given as the mean ± SD.

¹Student's t test.

²”Other” histologic diagnoses included hyperkeratosis (n = 2), regenerative atypia (n = 1), atrophy (n = 1), xanthoma (n = 1), and melanosis (n = 1). HGD: High-grade dysplasia; LGD: Low-grade dysplasia; SC: Superficial carcinoma; SCC: Squamous-cell carcinoma.

Table 2 Univariate analysis of relationships between endoscopic findings and histology

Endoscopy	Endoscopic findings	Non-SC (n = 333)	SC (n = 112)	OR	95% CI	P value
CWL (Non-magnified)	Color (redness; %)	41	72	3.69	2.31, 5.89	< 0.0011
	Delineation (well delineated; %)	66	69	1.13	0.71, 1.79
	Macroscopic type (flat or depressed; %)	44	58	1.73	1.12, 2.67	0.0131
NBI
(Non-magnified)	Brownish area (%)	57	79	2.79	1.69, 4.61	< 0.0011
(Magnified)	IBE (%)	33	68	4.22	2.67, 6.67	< 0.0011
	Microvascular
	Proliferation (%)	51	82	4.41	2.60, 7.49	< 0.0011
	Dilation (%)	76	90	2.9	1.48, 5.68	0.0021
	Irregularities (%)	31	82	10.27	6.01, 17.56	< 0.0011

¹Univariate logistic regression analysis between superficial carcinoma (SC) and non-SC groups. CWL: Conventional white light endoscopy; NBI: Narrow-band imaging; IBE: Intervascular brownish epithelium; OR: Odds ratio; CI: Confidence interval.

Table 3 Multivariate analysis of relationships between endoscopic findings and histology

Endoscopy	Endoscopic findings	Non-SC (n = 333)	SC (n = 112)	OR	95% CI	P value
CWL (Non-magnified)	Color (redness; %)	41	72	2.16	1.12, 4.16	0.0221
	Macroscopic type (flat or depressed; %)	44	58	0.84	0.47, 1.51
NBI
(Non-magnified)	Brownish area (%)	57	79	0.63	0.26, 1.56
(Magnified)	IBE (%)	33	68	3.39	1.88, 6.11	< 0.0011
	Microvascular
	Proliferation (%)	51	82	1.64	0.81, 3.35
	Dilation (%)	76	90	0.91	0.39, 2.13
	Irregularities (%)	31	82	7.51	4.02, 14.06	< 0.0011

¹Multivariate logistic regression analysis between superficial carcinoma (SC) and non-SC groups. CWL: Conventional white light endoscopy; NBI: Narrow-band imaging; IBE: Intervascular brownish epithelium; OR: Odds ratio; CI: Confidence interval.

Table 4 Diagnostic yields of the endoscopic features of pharyngeal superficial carcinoma

	Endoscopic findings		P value1
	Redness	Redness plus IBE and microvascular irregularities
% Sensitivity (95% CI)	72 (63-80)	52 (42-61)	0.002
% Specificity (96% CI)	59 (53-64)	92 (88-94)	< 0.001
% Accuracy (99% CI)	62 (58-65)	82 (78-85)	< 0.001

¹Pearson’s χ² test. IBE: Intervascular brownish epithelium; CI: Confidence interval.