[Involvement of the colon in gastric and pancreatic processes]

Using representative case studies the diagnostic problems of colonic infiltration in cases of gastric and pancreatic neoplastic or inflammatory lesions are discussed. Typical signs in both barium enema and ultrasonography lead to the detection of secondary bowel wall lesions. Characteristic intraperitoneal pathways of spread and roentgen-morphologic features are important in the attempt to differentiate inflammatory from malignant infiltrations. In these cases ultrasonography, showing a diffuse thickening of gastric or bowel wall, is a useful additional diagnostic tool, which gives further information about topographical relations in the abdomen.