Ultrasonographic scoring system: an auxiliary to differential diagnosis of gastric pathologies.

In a prospective clinical study, 64 patients with gastric pathologies (27 malignant and 37 benign) were examined ultrasonographically. Gastric wall layer changes, gastric wall thickness, lesion length, and protrusion into the lumen were evaluated. A scoring system was defined based on the distribution of these parameters and the score of each patient was calculated retrospectively. Six of the malignant cases had scores in the benign range and 3 of the benign cases had scores in the malignant range. Sensitivity of this scoring system in terms of detecting malignancy was 78% and specificity 92%. The positive predictive value was 88%, the negative predictive value was 85%, and overall diagnostic accuracy was 86%. This scoring system was considered to be a useful aid in the differential diagnosis of gastric pathologies.