W. Frederick McGuirt, MD, Kathryn M. Greven, MD, Daniel W. Williams III, MD
John W. Keyes, Jr, MD, Nat Watson, MD

A group of 38 patients was studied by positron emission tomography utilizing fluorine' 8-labeled deoxyglucose (FDG-PET) scanning to examine the ability to differentiate postirradiation laryngeal recurrent cancer from radionecrosis. The resulting 79% correct diagnosis showed the technique to be far superior to conventional computed tomography scanning (61%) and clinical examination (43%). An algorithmic approach to evaluating and treating patients with radionecrosis and/or recurrent cancer by utilizing FDG-PET scanning is presented.