BACKGROUND: A descriptive study of the characteristics of squamous cell carcinoma of upper aerodigestive tract related to bilateral neck metastasis is established. METHODS: Files of 150 patients with SCC of mouth, oropharynx, larynx and hypopharynx who underwent bilateral neck dissection between January 1979 and December 1996, were reviewed, and 73 with histologic bilateral neck metastasis pN+ were selected. Stage and location of the tumors were considered and results were analysed in front of lymphatic drainage and metastasis distribution studies. RESULTS: Fourteen patients with primary tumor in stages T1 and T2, 57 in stages T3 and T4 and 2 were staged as Tx. In 5 patients in stages T1 and T2 of the larynx with bilateral metastases, the lesion were localized in the epiglottis. CONCLUSION: In patients with unilateral lesions with bilateral dissemination, all presented unilateral and palpable lesions.
Carcinoma; squamous cell; Neoplasm metastasis; Lymph nodes; Neck dissection
