ENDOSCOPIC SONOGRAPHY OF THE UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL-TRACT AND PANCREAS

Endoscopic sonography is a new approach to visualizing upper gastroint estinal lesions, The sonographic device, which incorporates a sonograp hic transducer mounted on a standard fiberoptic endoscope, makes it po ssible to obtain high-resolution images of mucosal and mural lesions o f the gastrointestinal tract, as well as of adjacent masses. This tech nique has substantially improved preoperative staging of esophageal an d gastric cancers. In addition, high-resolution sonographs of the panc reas can be obtained without degradation by overlying bowel gas, makin g identification of small, previously occult lesions of the pancreatic head possible,We have used endoscopic sonography in staging esophagea l, gastric, and pancreatic cancers in more than 200 patients, This ess ay illustrates our experience with this new technique.