title: Endoscopic ultrasonography for preoperative staging of gastric carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the accuracy and limitation of endoscopic ultrasonography in preoperative staging of gastric cancer, we performed a prospective study on 99 patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-nine patients with gastric cancer had preoperative staging with endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and CT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The depth of infiltration (T parameter) was correctly defined by EUS in 58/65 patients (89%). The lymph node involvement (N parameter) was correctly classified in 44/65 patients (68%), the sensitivity was 74% and the specificity was 54%. The most frequent cause of understaging T parameter was microscopic tumor invasion, whereas overstaging was due to peri-tumor inflammation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We believe that EUS is a reliable method, superior to all diagnostic tools, in the evaluation of locoregional extension of gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Thoracic Surgery, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Massari
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Cioffi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Simone
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonavina
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'elia
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rosso
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montorsi
mesh_terms: D019160:Endosonography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013270:Stomach / Q000473:pathology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery