Clinical Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2003. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 15, 2003; 9(9): 2088-2091
Published online Sep 15, 2003. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v9.i9.2088
Diagnostic value of endoscopic ultrasonography for gastrointestinal leiomyoma
Guo-Qiang Xu, Bing-Ling Zhang, You-Ming Li, Li-Hua Chen, Feng Ji, Wei-Xing Chen, Shu-Ping Cai
Guo-Qiang Xu, Bing-Ling Zhang, You-Ming Li, Li-Hua Chen, Feng Ji, Wei-Xing Chen, Shu-Ping Cai, Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the Initiative Fund of Ministry of Education for Returned Overseas Scholars, No. 491010-G50040
Correspondence to: Guo-Qiang Xu, Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China. xuguoqi@mail.hz.zj.cn
Telephone: +86-571-87236522 Fax: +86-571-87236611
Received: March 3, 2003
Revised: April 23, 2003
Accepted: May 16, 2003
Published online: September 15, 2003
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the clinical pathologic features of gastrointestinal leiomyoma and the diagnostic value of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) on gastrointestinal leiomyoma.

METHODS: A total of 106 patients with gastrointestinal leiomyoma diagnosed with EUS were studied. The location, size and layer origin of gastric and esophageal leiomyomas were analyzed and compared. The histological diagnosis of the resected specimens by endoscopy or surgery in some patients was compared with their results of EUS.

RESULTS: The majority of esophageal leiomyomas were located in the middle and lower part of the esophagus and their size was smaller than 1.0 cm, and 62.1% of esophageal leiomyomas originated from the muscularis mucosae. Most of the gastric leiomyomas were located in the body and fundus of the stomach with a size of 1-2 cm. Almost all gastric leiomyomas (94.2%) originated from the muscularis propria. The postoperative histological results of 54 patients treated by endoscopic resection or surgical excision were completely consistent with the preoperative diagnosis of EUS, and the diagnostic specificity of EUS to gastrointestinal leiomyoma was 94.7%.

CONCLUSION: The size and layer origin of esophageal leiomyomas are different from that of gastric leiomyomas. Being safe and accurate, EUS is the best method not only for gastrointestinal leiomyoma diagnosis but also for the follow-up of patients.

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