[Endosonography of tumors of the upper gastrointestinal tract: is routine use justified?].

Major indications of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) are staging of carcinomas of the oesophagus, stomach, and pancreas, lymphomas of the stomach and the diagnosis of submucosal tumors. Based on a meta-analysis, the accuracy of EUS is 84% in the T-stage of oesophagus carcinoma (1154 patients) and 77% (1035) in the N-stage, and of stomach carcinoma 80% (2699) and 70% (1207), respectively. Drawbacks of EUS: tumor stenosis which cannot be passed by the endoscope; the inability to distinguish between benign and malignant stomach ulcera and the diagnosis of lymph nodes.