Conti CB, Mulinacci G, Salerno R, Dinelli ME, Grassia R. Applications of endoscopic ultrasound elastography in pancreatic diseases: From literature to real life. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28(9): 909-917 [PMID: 35317053 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i9.909]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Clara Benedetta Conti, MD, Consultant Physician-Scientist, Interventional Endoscopy Unit, ASST Monza, Ospedale San Gerardo, Via G.B. Pergolesi 30, Monza 20900, Italy. benedetta.conti1@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2022; 28(9): 909-917 Published online Mar 7, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i9.909
Applications of endoscopic ultrasound elastography in pancreatic diseases: From literature to real life
Clara Benedetta Conti, Giacomo Mulinacci, Raffaele Salerno, Marco Emilio Dinelli, Roberto Grassia
Clara Benedetta Conti, Giacomo Mulinacci, Marco Emilio Dinelli, Interventional Endoscopy Unit, ASST Monza, Ospedale San Gerardo, Monza 20900, Italy
Raffaele Salerno, Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, ASST Fatebenefratelli-Sacco, Milan 20121, Italy
Roberto Grassia, Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, ASST Cremona, Cremona 26100, Italy
Author contributions: Conti CB and Grassia R conceived the idea of the manuscript and supervised the findings of the work; Conti CB and Mulinacci G performed the literature search and wrote the draft of the paper with input from all authors; Salerno R and Dinelli ME verified the methods and the contents; Salerno R and Grassia R provided the illustrations by performing the examinations; All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Clara Benedetta Conti, Giacomo Mulinacci, Raffaele Salerno, Marco Emilio Dinelli, and Roberto Grassia have no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Clara Benedetta Conti, MD, Consultant Physician-Scientist, Interventional Endoscopy Unit, ASST Monza, Ospedale San Gerardo, Via G.B. Pergolesi 30, Monza 20900, Italy. benedetta.conti1@gmail.com
Received: September 27, 2021 Peer-review started: September 27, 2021 First decision: November 7, 2021 Revised: November 11, 2021 Accepted: January 29, 2022 Article in press: January 29, 2022 Published online: March 7, 2022
Abstract
Elastography is a non-invasive method widely used to measure the stiffness of the tissues, and it is available in most endoscopic ultrasound machines, using either qualitative or quantitative techniques. Endoscopic ultrasound elastography is a tool that should be applied to obtain a complementary evaluation of pancreatic diseases, together with other imaging tests and clinical data. Elastography can be informative, especially when studying pancreatic masses and help the clinician in the differential diagnosis between benign or malignant lesions. However, further studies are necessary to standardize the method, increase the reproducibility and establish definitive cut-offs to distinguish between benign and malignant pancreatic masses. Moreover, even if promising, elastography still provides little information in the evaluation of benign conditions.
Core Tip: Elastography is largely available in most endoscopic ultrasound machines, using either qualitative or quantitative methods. The application of elastography in the study of pancreatic diseases should be considered as a complementary test, together with other imaging and clinical data. Elastography can help the clinician in the diagnosis of pancreatic masses, whereas there is still little information in the case of pancreatitis. Further studies are necessary to standardize the method and above all to establish definitive cut-offs to distinguish between benign and malignant pancreatic masses.
