Endoscopic Ultrasonography in Upper Gastrointestinal Subepithelial Lesions / 대한소화기내시경학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is known for its value to characterize incidentally found subepithelial lesions, and we so reviewed our data to validate the norm. METHODS: We analyzed the records of the patients with suspected subepithelial lesions at the time of endoscopy, which was performed from Aug. 2001 to Oct. 2004. RESULTS: The data includes 622 patients (248 males) with average age of 52 years (age range 15~83 years). Extraluminal compression was noted in 10.1% of the patients. Intraluminal lesions were dominant in the stomach and their average size was 14.8 mm. The inner three wall layers were the predominant layers of origin. Mesenchymal tumors were the most frequent EUS impression. Pathologic findings were available for 88 patients and 80.7% of them were benign. Compared with the pathology, the diagnostic accuracy of EUS was 78.4%. The differentiation of malignant and benign GISTs by the EUS findings was 56.3%. Among the 60 EUS cases that had follow up data available (at mean interval of 12.2 months) and who also had less than 3 cm benign lesions, growth was detected only in 10 cases (17%). Pathology confirmed that the lesions in 3 of them were benign. CONCLUSIONS: More than 10% of the subepithelial lesions found from endoscopy were extraluminal compression. The majority of intramural lesions were benign. The EUS impression was relatively accurate and helpful for the management of upper gastrointestinal submucosal lesions.