| Theme |
Present Status and Future Aspects of EUS |
| Title |
Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) and EUS-guided Fine Needle Aspiration (EUS-FNA) in the Mediastinum |
| Author |
Ichiro Yasuda |
Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University |
| Author |
Hisataka Moriwaki |
Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University |
| [ Summary ] |
Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and EUS-fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) are now well established modalities for the diagnosis of mediastinal diseases in Western countries. EUS provides a more precise image of the posterior mediastinum and can detect smaller lesions than CT. Tissue sampling is also available by using FNA techniques. Because the real time images with color Doppler are helpful in avoiding problems with the cardiovascular system and in navigating blood vessels, needle punctures are much easier and safer than with the CT-guided approach. These techniques have been reported to play important roles in the evaluation of mediastinal lesions and in the detection of metastasis in lymph nodes. In particular, they have proven useful for preoperative lymph node staging of lung cancer. Accuracy rates have been reported to be significant (> 95 %). In this article, we also described a technique for observing the mediastinum, using a convex type EUS. |