Review article: endoscopic ultrasound of the stomach

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is the adopted term for the technique which enables endoluminal ultrasound to be performed using a specially designed endoscope with a fixed piezoelectric transducer. Since initial reports described the use of this technique in patients, its use in clinical practice in Europe, the Far East and the USA has been steadily increasing over the past few years. At present the technique is only practised in a very few centres in the UK but it is likely that this will increase in the future. This article describes the present day value of EUS in evaluating gastric pathology.