Abstract
The category classification based on the Manual for Abdominal Ultrasound in Cancer Screening and Health Checkups (judgment manual) was announced in 2014. We investigated whether endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasonography (CE-EUS) are efficient methods for performing a detailed examination of the pancreatic ductal carcinoma. We examined 183 cases of pancreatic ductal carcinomas diagnosed at our hospital between July 2008 and December 2015; furthermore, we used 28 cases of other pancreatic solid tumors as controls. When the judgment manual was applied to EUS, the sensitivity, specificity, and correct diagnosis rates for ultrasound (US) and EUS were 91% and 98%, 78% and 95%, and 89% and 98%, respectively. The category 5 was useful for diagnosis of the pancreatic ductal carcinoma via US, but EUS showed a better diagnostic performance than US. During CE-EUS examination using perflubutane, the contrast effect after the contrast peak was significantly reduced in pancreatic ductal carcinomas compared to the other pancreatic solid tumors. EUS and CE-EUS are useful and efficient methods for a detailed examination of the pancreatic ductal carcinoma.
