Endosonography of stenotic esophageal carcinomas: Preliminary experience with an ultra-thin, balloon-fitted ultrasound probe in four patients

Abstract

Endosonography (ES) is a generally accepted technique for the pre-operative staging of malignant tumors in the upper or lower gastrointestinal tract. One of the main indications for ES is the pre-operative staging of esophageal carcinoma, where T (depth of tumor invasion) and N (regional lymph node metastasis) stage are vital for determining prognosis.1,2 In series that have been published, an accuracy of 85% for T stage and approximately 80% for N stage have been reached.3-7 A major limiting factor for the use of ES is the fact that a considerable number of esophageal lesions cannot be traversed with standard echo-endoscopes (Olympus GF-UM3 or GF-UM20, Olympus America Inc., Lake Success, N.Y.).