Korean J Gastrointest Endosc.  2004 Oct;29(4):185-192.

The Usefulness of Endoscopic Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis of Diseases of Liver, Biliary Tree, Gallbladder and around Distal Common Bile Duct

• Kim YS
• Kim EY
• Cheon JW
• Kim JY
• Seo JH
• Shin JH
• Lee WS
• Jung JT
• Kwon JG
• Lee CH
• Kim HG

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is now accepted as an essential tool for the diagnosis and the therapy of various gastrointestinal diseases. With regard to the biliary system, its high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were reported recently. We assessed the clinical usefulness of EUS for the diagnosis of diseases of the liver, biliary tree, gallbladder and distal common bile duct.
METHODS
We sent questionnaires about the clinical usefulness of EUS to the doctors who requested EUS examination for 32 patients with suspected diseases of the liver, gallbladder and around extrahepatic biliary tree from Aug. 2001 to Aug. 2002. We evaluated the answers and clinical characteristics of the patients.
RESULTS
Patients were 17 males and 15 females with mean age of 61.8 years old. All received abdominal computed tomography (CT) before EUS and some had abdominal ultrasonography (USG) or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). EUS was more accurate and informative than other imaging modalities and gave definite final diagnosis for 31.2%. In 40.6%, EUS was helpful as an additional diagnostic tool.
CONCLUSIONS
EUS was useful in 71.8% of the cases for the diagnosis of diseases of the liver, biliary tree, gallbladder and around distal common bile duct. EUS can be used as an important adjunct to USG, CT and ERCP.

Keyword

Biliary tree; Endoscopic ultrasonography; Usefulness

MeSH Terms

Biliary Tract*
Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde
Common Bile Duct*
Diagnosis*
Endosonography*
Female
Gallbladder*
Gastrointestinal Diseases
Humans
Liver*
Male
Sensitivity and Specificity
Ultrasonography
Surveys and Questionnaires