New Trends in Endoscopic Ultrasonography

Gastrointestinal carcinoma has been detected and diagnosed by barium meal X-ray study and endoscopic study with or without biopsy study. In particular, early and minute carcinoma can be detected only by endoscopic study. Due to the development and refinement of endoscopy, the diagnosis of early gastrointestinal (GI) carcinoma is now easily accomplished by endoscopic observation and biopsy study. Endoscopic detection of gastrointestinal lesions depends on the recognition of visible mucosal changes. However, the final diagnosis is performed by histopathological study of biopsy materials. Biopsy study is still very important to obtain the correct diagnosis of the lesion as carcinoma, dysplasia, adenoma, and hyperplasia, although it is sometimes possible to diagnose the lesion from the endoscopic investigation of mucosal surface details. In this chapter, endoscopic diagnosis of early carcinoma in the upper GI tract will be described.