Endoscopic assessment of invasion of colorectal tumors with a new high-frequency ultrasound probe.

The present study was carried out to clarify the usefulness of and problems associated with a new ultrasound probe in the assessment of invasion of colorectal tumors. Normal colorectal wall of 23 resected specimens from colorectal cancer cases was examined in vitro with the probe. Fifty-one patients with colorectal carcinoma and 16 patients with rectal carcinoid tumor were presurgically examined using the probe via the biopsy channel of a conventional colonoscope. After endoscopic and ultrasonographic examination, 27 patients underwent endoscopic resection and 40 underwent surgical resection. The ultrasonographic findings were compared with histologic findings in all cases. Carcinomas and carcinoid tumors were visualized as an echo-poor region with the probe. The overall accuracy rate for depth of invasion was 76% (39/51) for colorectal cancer. The accuracy rates for tumors limited to the mucosa and tumors invading the submucosa were 83% and 90%, respectively; these rates were higher than those for tumors invading the muscularis propria (50%) and beyond the muscularis propria (73%). In all 16 cases of carcinoid tumor, the depth of invasion was accurately shown to be limited to the submucosa. This probe is useful to assess invasion of colorectal tumors, especially small and flat lesions limited to the mucosa or submucosa.