[Computed tomography in the diagnosis of gastric cancer]

The potentialities of x-ray computer-aided tomography (CAT) in the studies of intraparietal blastomatous infiltration are analyzed as shown by examinations of 134 patients with gastric cancer. The diagnostic efficacies of various modifications of CAT (filling of the stomach with liquid, pneumoscanning of the stomach with or without tubes) are assessed. Good diagnostic potentialities of tubal scanning of the stomach in the assessment of intraparietal tumor infiltration are demonstrated. CAT semeiotics of gastric cancer is presented, characterizing the tumors with predominantly intraparietal dissemination of blastomatous infiltration. The existent projection limitations of axial CAT of individual portions of the stomach and high price of the examination imply that the indications to the use of this method in gastrooncology should be clearly defined. At the same time, scrupulous adherance to methodologic requirements aimed at imaging of intraparietal changes in gastric cancer may help to solve a number of differential diagnostic difficulties, primarily those connected with predominantly submucously growing carcinomas.