Abstract
Six patients with mediastinal tumors (2 neurogenic tumos, 2 mediastinal goiters, 1 lymphan-gioma and 1 anaplastic carcinoma) were examined preoperatively by esophageal ultrasonogra-phy (EUS).
The EUS probe was inserted orally into the esophageal lumen, and a visual longitudinal image of the mediastinum was obtained.
All six tumors were depicted, and their locations were identified by the surrounding struc-tures, i. e. the heart and the great vessels. Moreover, the finer characteristics of each tumor, encapsulated or invasive, solid or cystic were determined by the EUS.
EUS proved to be of value in evaluating upper-, middle-, or posterior mediastinal tumors preoperatively.
