Historically, the diagnosis of clinical problems in the head and neck has relied on a combination of physical examination and plain film radiography. Although Ziedses des Plantes' invention of tomography had a major impact on head and neck diagnosis, it remained for the development of CT, MR and modern nuclear medicine to truly revo- lutionize the specialty. Not only have these new techniques provided better definition of osseous structures and soft tissues but adaptations of these techniques have allowed us to study function as well as anatomy. Utilization of the modern imaging techniques...

MRI is assuming a dominant role in imaging of the larynx. Its superior soft tissue contrast resolution makes it ideal for differentiating invasion of tumors of the larynx from normal or more sharply circumscribed configuration of most of the benign lesions. Over ten years ago CT made a major impact on laryngeal examination because it was the first time that Radiologists were beginning to look at submucosal disease. All of the previous examinations duplicated the infor mation that was available to the clinician via direct and in-direct laryngo scopy. With the advent of rigid and flexible...