Peroral staining method with toluidine blue as an aid in the diagnosis of malignant gastric lesions.

Peroral, intragastric staining method with toluidine blue was performed in 42 patients with suspected neoplastic lesions of the stomach. Fifteen out of 18 malignant lesions and one out of 13 benign lesions were stained. Normal mucosa, areas of gastritis and most of the benign lesions appeared unchanged. According to our results, the use of toluidine blue staining method prior to endoscopy might be of help in demonstrating minute malignant lesions of gastric mucosa and in the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant ulcers of the stomach.