title: Gastric and duodenal wall thickening on abdominal ultrasonography. Positive predictive value.
abstract: In a retrospective study, 79 patients with gastric (n = 59) or duodenal (n = 20) wall thickening on conventional abdominal ultrasonograms were included. To reduce bias, patients with a microscopic diagnosis of upper GI neoplasia present at the time of scanning were excluded. The final diagnosis was based upon endoscopy, operation, upper GI series, or autopsy. Among the 59 cases of gastric wall thickening, 33 (56%) proved to be gastric cancer, one (2%) was benign neoplasia, and 17 (29%) showed nonneoplastic pathology (ulcer, gastritis, fibrosis). In eight cases (13%) no gastric pathology was present in the final diagnosis, thus producing false-positive sonographic diagnoses. Among the 20 cases of duodenal wall thickening, five (25%) proved to be duodenal cancer and seven (35%) showed nonneoplastic duodenal pathology. We concluded that gastric or duodenal wall thickening shown on abdominal sonography is a significant finding indicating upper GI pathology (malignant or nonmalignant) in a high percentage of the gastric (86%) and duodenal (60%) cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Herlev Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lorentzen
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Nolsøe
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Khattar
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Torp-Pedersen
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Holm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004379:Duodenal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D004386:Duodenum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013270:Stomach / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography