Neck Imaging Reporting and Data System: Principles and Implementation

Abstract

Head and neck cancer surveillance imaging is diagnostically challenging, often with highly distorted anatomy after surgery and chemoradiation therapy. In the era of standardized reporting, the Neck Imaging Reporting and Data System (NI-RADS) was developed as a numerical classification system to provide clear and concise radiology reports and recommend next management step. There are 5 categories, each conveying a certain level of suspicion for the presence of persistent or recurrent disease. This article reviews the goals of NI-RADS, NI-RADS categories and lexicon, current research, and the future direction of NI-RADS in posttreatment head and neck cancer surveillance.

Keywords: Cancer surveillance; Head and neck cancer; NI-RADS; Neck imaging reporting and data system; Reporting template; Standardized reporting.