[Endosonography of the esophagus and stomach].
Endosonography is considered to be the most exact method for the staging of carcionomas of the oesophagus and stomach. It enables a differentiation of the T stages of carcinomas of the oesophagus and stomach with an accuracy of between 65 and 90 %. Endosonography with a mini-probe, however, does not appear to be superior to the macroscopic evaluation by an experienced endoscopist. A further decisive criterion for therapy is the lymph node status. Here, endosonography exhibits a high sensitivity albeit with an unsatisfactory specificity. The specificity can be increased by the cytological evaluation of biopsy samples from the fine needle puncture of suspicious lymph nodes, a method with a very low complication rate. But new methods such as contrast medium-enhanced endosonography or elastography also appear to be useful for the differentiation of suspicious lymph nodes.
Abteilung für Innere Medizin, Dr.-Horst-Schmidt-Kliniken, Wiesbaden. oliver.pech@t-online.de
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D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D001706:Biopsy; D019160:Endosonography / Q000379:methods*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology