[Indications and value of endosonography of the upper gastrointestinal tract]

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) has been used in the diagnosis and staging of gastroenterologic tumors for about ten years. High accuracy rates of EUS in staging of esophageal, gastric and pancreatic carcinoma (T-stage: 80-95%, N-stage: 75-85%) have been reported. EUS is therefore a valuable diagnostic tool für assessment of prognosis as well as for planning of therapy of these tumors. Its value in benign gastroenterologic disease is unclear. EUS seems to be much less reliable in the differentiation between benign and malignant changes (e.g. esophageal stenoses, gastric ulcers, pancreatic mass lesions).