title: Gastrointestinal endoscopic ultrasonography.
abstract: Although conventional endoscopy provides excellent visualization of gastrointestinal mucosa, it provides little information about intramural or nearby extramural lesions. The imaging of intraabdominal structures by conventional transabdominal ultrasound is degraded by ultrasound energy attenuation with distance. The provision of an ultrasound probe on a flexible gastrointestinal endoscope, to form an echoendoscope, provides excellent imaging of the gastrointestinal wall and of adjacent extramural structures. During the last two decades, endoscopic ultrasound, using an echoendoscope, has revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases that affect the submucosa, deep bowel wall, and adjacent extramural structures. This article reviews the role of endoscopic ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disease, including standard and promising new applications, as well as standard and emerging new technology.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, University of Utah School of Medicine, 4R118, 30N 1900E, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA.
authors.forename: Iqbal S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Sandhu
authors.forename: Manoop S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Bhutani
mesh_terms: D019723:Endoscopes; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal / Q000379:methods*; D019160:Endosonography; D004867:Equipment Design; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy