Pre-operative staging of ampullary tumours by endoscopic ultrasound.

Ampullary carcinomas have a significantly higher resectability rate and better prognosis than other periampullary carcinomas, although the prognosis is poor with advanced disease. Accurate tumour staging is therefore important in surgical planning. Our objective was to evaluate the usefulness of, and problems associated with, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in the pre-operative staging of ampullary tumours. 35 patients with ampullary tumours were pre-operatively examined with EUS. The imaging results were compared with histopathological findings of the resected specimen according to the TNM staging classification. The overall accuracy of tumour (T) staging was 74% (26/35) for all tumours, and 67% (6/9), 71% (10/14) and 83% (10/12) respectively for T1, T2 and T3 tumours. The overall accuracy of nodal (N) staging was 63%. In diagnosing pancreatic invasion, EUS had an accuracy of 86% (30/35), a sensitivity of 83% (10/12), and a specificity of 87% (20/23). In conclusion, EUS provides an accurate method of evaluating the stage of ampullary tumours, especially infiltration into the pancreas. This modality is useful to surgeons in deciding on an appropriate therapeutic approach and in giving a prognosis.