Abstract
The accuracy of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) was tested in 6 patients with cancer of the papilla of Vater. All 6 cases underwent surgical operation. EUS was inserted smoothly into the duodenum where a tumor of the papilla of Vater was clearly visualized in all patients. EUS has offered informations to assess the tumor size ; the invasion to the duodenal wall, the common bile duct and/or the pancreatic duct. Comparison of these results with those from pathological findings of resected specimens showed good correlation. However, regarding invasion to the pancreas, judgement by means of EUS was not possible in 4 of 6 cases because the pancreas was not welldemarcated from the surrounding fat tissues by means of EUS. EUS was superior to conventional examinations in the diagnosis of cancer of the papilla of Vater, particularly making decisions on the extent of the tumorous invasion.
