Thickening of the gastric wall on transabdominal sonography: a sign of gastric cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the value of a thickened gastric wall detected during transabdominal sonography (TAS) in the diagnosis of gastric cancer.


METHODS
This prospective study comprised 312 patients who underwent both TAS and endoscopy. Transverse TAS scanning was performed using a 3.5-MHz curved transducer to measure gastric wall thickness in the antrum and body of the stomach. Based on endoscopic and histologic findings, we classified the patients into 3 groups: normal or benign disease (BD), early gastric cancer (EGC), and advanced gastric cancer (AGC). TAS findings were then compared.


RESULTS
The thickness of the gastric wall was 4.9 +/- 1.6 mm in 262 patients with BD, 5.6 +/- 2.4 mm in 21patients with EGC, and 10.3 +/- 4.7 mm in 29 patients with AGC (p < 0.01). A gastric wall thickness of greater than 7 mm had a 75.0% sensitivity, 92.6% specificity, 50.0% positive predictive value, and 97.4% negative predictive value in the diagnosis of AGC.


CONCLUSIONS
Although not suitable as a screening method for gastric cancer, a thickening of the gastric wall of >7 mm may be a marker for AGC.
Suk
Ki Tae
KT
Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Lifelong Health, Yonsei University, Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Gangwon-do, South Korea.
Lim
Dae Wook
DW
Kim
Moon Young
MY
Park
Dong Hun
DH
Kim
Kyu Hong
KH
Kim
Jung Min
JM
Kim
Jae Woo
JW
Kim
Hyun Soo
HS
Kwon
Sang Ok
SO
Baik
Soon Koo
SK
Park
Sung Jin
SJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014159:Transducers; D014463:Ultrasonography