Diagnosis of submucosal lesions of the upper gastrointestinal tract by endoscopic ultrasonography.

The use of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) in the diagnosis of submucosal upper gastrointestinal tract lesions was examined in 308 patients. Two-hundred ten submucosal tumors, 89 cases of esophagogastric varices, and 9 cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were found. EUS images were interpreted based upon a five-layer EUS structure of the normal gastrointestinal wall. A characteristic EUS image was seen with leiomyoma, cysts, lipoma, and varices. EUS had an accuracy of 80% in staging nine cases of lymphoma. EUS is a valuable technique for the evaluation and diagnosis of submucosal upper gastrointestinal tract lesions.