Endosonographic evaluation of giant gastric folds.

Giant gastric folds develop in several benign and malignant diseases. We used endoscopic ultrasonography to evaluate giant gastric folds in 15 patients with Borrmann type IV scirrhous carcinoma, 8 patients with gastric lymphoma, 5 patients with anisakiasis, 1 patient with Menetrier's disease, and 6 normal subjects with simple gastric hyperrugosity. With a 7.5 MHz transducer, a five-layered gastric wall structure was imaged. The thickness of the gastric wall and each layer was measured and compared with the endosonographic findings of 16 healthy subjects. Endoscopic ultrasonography findings revealed that the second layer alone was thickened in Menetrier's disease, and the third layer alone enlarged in anisakiasis. Most of the patients with scirrhous carcinoma showed an abnormally enlarged third and fourth layer. The second layer together with the third layer was thickened in healthy subjects with simple hyperrugosity and also in patients with gastric lymphoma. However, the fourth ultrasound layer corresponding to the muscularis propria was significantly thickened only in malignant conditions. It is concluded that endoscopic ultrasonography can visualize the structure of giant gastric folds and may facilitate the differentiation of benign from malignant etiologies.