1995 Volume 37 Issue 10 Pages 2157-2165_1
The ability of ultrasonic miniature probe to diagnose the depth of invasion was investigated in 48 lesions with superficial esophageal carcinoma between December 1993and December 1994. The depth of invasion was classified as ml or m2, m3, or sm1, and sm2 or more over.By using the 20 MHz miniature probe, it was possible to detect mucosal carcinorna clearly, and the diagnostic accuracy was 83.3%in 48 lesions. The reasons for incorrect diagnosis were insufficiency of imaging, broadness of the lesion, micro invasion, and artifact of endoscopic biopsy. Another problem for diagnosis is that normal nine layerd structure could not be visualized in same cases. In these cases, it is considered that the thickness of tumorous echo will lie a index for diagnosis. Though some problems remain unsolved, the imaging procedures using miniature probe is considered to be useful for the pre-operative diagnosis of the depth of invasion in superficial esophageal carcinoma.
