[Gastric carcinoma and mediastinal lymph nodes]

The objective of the work was to assess the impact of the shift of gastric cancer in an oral direction in the mediastinal lymph nodes. For this purpose a new miniinvasive lower mediastinoscopy was used in 30 patients. The method is safe and can be used also in other situations. Mediastinal metastases may occur in cancer in the distal and medium third of the stomach. They need not be present when cancer is in the upper third. The shift of gastric carcinoma did not influence the mediastinal nodes.