Improvement of Endoscopic Nd-YAG Laser Irradiation for the Treatment of Early Gastric Cancer

-Radiation Effectiveness of a Contact Type Probe-

Abstract

An attempt was made to treat 16 cases of early gastric cancer by endoscopic Nd-YAG laser irradiation. As a refinement of the conventionally used technique (non-contact type), we proposed a contact type method of laser irradiation which, however, failed to produce a therapeutically adequate destructive effect on tumor lesions owing to low output (5-10W) irradiation. In the present study we performed laser irradiation (30W) of the intact gastric mucosa of dogs using a contact type terminal fitted with a heat-resisting microtip (S. L. T.-JAPAN) and examined the treated tissues both macroscopically and histologically. The results indicated that the new method of laser irradiation provided a depth of energy penetration comparable to that accomplished by the conventional method of non-contact type at approximately 1/2 of energy output with the latter.