Esophageal carcinoma: CT findings

Preoperative CT scans of 33 patients with esophageal cancer were reviewed to assess staging accuracy and define the role of CT in patients being considered for transhiatal blunt esophagectomy. Surgical and pathological verification was obtained in all cases. Only 13 tumors were staged correctly according to the TNM classification. In addition, CT was not useful in assessing resectability because of its low accuracy in evaluating aortic invasion and the fact that few patients had tracheobronchial or aortic invasion or hepatic metastases at presentation.