Endoscopic Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis of Upper Gastrointestinal Submucosal Tumors

Back ground and study aims: Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) has recently been reported to be useful in the diagnosis of submucosal tumors (SMT). The aim of this study was to show that EUS may help to differentiate the SMT in the upper gastrointestinal tract by comparing and analyzing the EUS finding of SMT and it is pathology. Patients and methods: A total of 22 patients with gastrointestinal SMT diagnosed with EUS were studied. The location and layer of origin of gastrointestinal SMT were analyzed and compared. The histological diagnosis of resected specimen by surgery in most patients was compared with their results of EUS. Results: The majority of gastrointestinal SMT (20 patients) were myogenic tumors (leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma) which originated from muscularis properia. Two patients had lipomas that originated from submucosa. The histopathological results of resected specimen were consistent with preoperative diagnosis of EUS. Conclusion: EUS is the best diagnostic method not only for gastrointestinal SMT diagnosis but also for determine the layer of origin and subsequently differentiate different types of SMT.