Endoscopic ultrasound elastography: Current status and future perspectives.

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Gastroenterology
• Oncology

Background:

• Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is crucial for diagnosing abdominal and mediastinal diseases.
• Elastography measures tissue stiffness, offering new insights into disease diagnosis.
• EUS elastography can assess tumors near the digestive tract, improving diagnostic accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current knowledge on EUS elastography.
• To discuss its applications in diagnosing pancreatic masses, lymph nodes, and differentiating pancreatitis.
• To explore future perspectives and emergent indications of EUS elastography.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on EUS elastography.
• Discussion of technical aspects and clinical applications.
• Analysis of diagnostic performance in various gastrointestinal and pancreatic conditions.

Main Results:

• EUS elastography shows promise in differentiating benign and malignant pancreatic masses and lymph nodes.
• It aids in distinguishing normal pancreatic tissue from chronic pancreatitis.
• EUS elastography can improve the accuracy of EUS-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (EUS-FNAB).

Conclusions:

• EUS elastography is a valuable adjunct, not a replacement, for biopsy.
• It enhances diagnostic yield for pancreatic and lymph node assessment.
• Future applications include guiding EUS-FNAB and characterizing lesions in the liver, biliary tract, adrenal glands, and GI tract.