1986 Volume 28 Issue 6 Pages 1193-1201
We attemted to diagnose the depth invasion and lymph node metastasis of esophageal cancer by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). The results were as follows; 1) The ratio of accuracy in the diagnosis of infiltrating depth of esophageal cancer was 70%. 2) In a histological investigation of 150 pieces of lymph nodes resected by operation, the incidence of lymph node metastasis was 48.1% in the size of over 10mm in diameter with round shape, and 14.3% in the same size with ellipse shape. It was 10% in the size from 5 to 10mm in diameter with round shape and 5.3% in the same size with ellipse shape. There were no metastatic lymph nodes in the size of less than 5mm in diameter. 3) The ultrasonographic visualization rate of lymph nodes surrounding the esophagus was 58.7% in the size of over 10mm in diameter, 34.4% in the size from 5 to 10mm in diameter and 6.9% in the size of less than 5mm in diameter. 4) Lymph nodes surrounding the esophagus and the stomach were enhanced by oral administration of "10% oil in water type emulsion". The visualization rate of the lymph nodes will be raised by using this new method. Moreover, by investigating the size, the shape and the form of enhancement in lymph nodes visualized by EUS, it may be possible to diagnose exactly whether these lymph nodes have the metastasis of cancer or not.
