[Echoendoscopy: a new technic for studying esophago-gastric subepithelial tumors and extrinsic compression]

The value of endoscopic ultrasonography in the diagnosis of subepithelial tumors and extrinsic compression of the esophagus and the stomach was evaluated in 34 patients with 21 subepithelial tumors and 13 extrinsic compressions. Endoscopic ultrasonography was always performed after axial-vision fiberscopy anal routine biopsy specimens were obtained. Computed tomography was also done in all cases of extrinsic compression. Distinction between subepithelial tumor and extrinsic compression was made in all patients by endoscopic ultrasonography and in 5 cases by fiberscopic examination with biopsy specimens. Localization and intramural spread of subepithelial tumors were correctly determined in 12 of 13 cases by endoscopic ultrasonography (diagnostic accuracy: 92 percent). The echoendoscopic semiology of 21 subepithelial tumors was retrospectively established. The histologic nature of some of these tumors can be suggested by these signs. Endoscopic ultrasonography is superior to computed tomography in the evaluation of esogastric extrinsic compressions, particularly in the diagnosis of posterior mediastinal carcinomatosis and of tumoral invasion of the deep parietal layers. We conclude that endoscopic ultrasonography is currently the best procedure in the assessment of subepithelial tumors and extrinsic compressions of the esophagus and the stomach.