title: Vital staining of oesophagus in patients with head and neck cancer: still a worthwhile procedure.
abstract: One hundred three patients with upper aerodigestive cancer were consecutively submitted to upper GI endoscopy with vital staining (Toluidine Blue 1%) of the oesophagus. The aim of the study was not only to confirm the prevalence of synchronous or metachronous tumour but also to verify the usefulness of the vital stain compared to simple endoscopy. Staining was positive in 29 patients (28.1%) for oesophagitis, leukoplakia, Barrett's oesophagus and 3 oesophageal neoplasms (2.9%), two of them unsuspected at endoscopy. We did not observe false positives while 13 cases (13/29-44.8%) were considered normal at endoscopy. Five cases with some endoscopic abnormality of the mucosa did not stain and were considered false negatives. Specificity of the method was 100%, sensibility 85.2%. The recognition of dysplastic changes and neoplasms not suspected at endoscopy should recommend in our opinion the use of vital staining of oesophagus in high-risk groups.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Patologia Speciale Chirurgica, Università di Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Contini
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Consigli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Lecce
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiapasco
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Orsi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004935:Esophageal Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D004945:Esophagoscopy; D004947:Esophagus / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014048:Tolonium Chloride
chemical_list: D014048:Tolonium Chloride