Assessment of adventitial involvement of esophageal carcinoma by endoscopic ultrasonography.

The adventitial involvement (AI) of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in 20 patients was analyzed by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and computed tomography (CT). The findings were compared with the histologic evidence of tumor invasion in the resected specimens. AI was detected as an irregularity or interruption of the third layer of the esophageal wall on ultrasound examination. The overall accuracy in the assessment of depth of tumor invasion by EUS and CT scan was 80% and 68%, respectively. EUS diagnosed AI in 17 patients and detected direct tumor invasion of either the aorta, trachea or pericardium in 7 of them. In 4 patients who had severe stenotic lesions, EUS underestimated the depth of tumor invasion when compared to the histologic findings. Overall, these results, show that EUS when combined with CT scanning is a useful means of preoperatively evaluating tumor invasion in patients with esophageal carcinoma.