[New aspects and methods in gastroenterological diagnosis]

Advances in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases are achieved by development of new methods and by an improved analysis of the obtained data. New aspects of screening examinations for gastrointestinal cancer in high risk groups concern endoscopic-bioptic methods, the endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreaticography, the ultrasonically-guided percutaneous fine-needle biopsy and immunological procedures. An increasing number of gastrointestinal peptides can be determined by radioimmunoassay. Breath tests may improve diagnosis in malassimilation.