Is the prediction of one or two ipsilateral positive lymph nodes by computerized tomography and ultrasound reliable enough to restrict therapeutic neck dissection in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients?

Our findings stress the importance of conducting both, CT and US, in patients with primary OSCC. Only the combination of their findings warrants the application of therapeutic SND in patients with a single ipsilateral LN metastasis (cN1/cN2a patients) but not in patients with more than one lesion upon clinical staging (≥ cN2b).