PURPOSE: We aimed to study clinicopathological parameters and complications of patients who underwent magnetic resonance imaging-transrectal ultrasonography fusion guided prostate biopsy (MRI-TRUS FGB). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated 576 patients who underwent MRI-TRUS FGB of prostate from May 2003 to December 2017 retrospectively. The clinicopathological features and complications were presented, using the modified Clavien-Dindo classification system. RESULTS: Fourteen patients (2.4%) readmitted within 30 days after MRI-TRUS FGB due to complications, and 85.7% (12 of 14) of them complained mild to moderate complications, the Clavien-Dindo classification grades I and II. The most common complication was hematuria (n=5, 0.9%), followed by acute urinary retention (n=3, 0.5%), dysuria (n=2, 0.3%), fever (n=1, 0.2%), hematochezia (n=1, 0.2%). According to multivariate analysis, only age was the significant risk factor of overall complications and bleeding related complications. Two hundred thirteen patients were diagnosed as prostate cancer after MRI-TRUS FGB. When the Likert suspicious scale of prostate cancer on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was ≤4, 27.8% (137 of 493) were diagnosed as prostate cancer, of whom 56.2% (77 of 137) were confirmed as prostate cancer only at randomized 12 cores. When the ADC suspicious level was grade 5, 91.6% (76 of 83) were diagnosed as prostate cancer, of whom 11.8% (7 of 76) were confirmed as prostate cancer only at randomized 12 cores. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates the safety of MRI-TRUS FGB in terms of complications. When ADC suspicious level is grade 5, MRI-TRUS FGB alone could be a reasonable measure to diagnose prostate cancer, but randomized 12-core prostate biopsy would be recommended additionally when ADC suspicious level is ≤4.
Biopsy ; Classification ; Diffusion ; Dysuria ; Fever ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; Hematuria ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pathology ; Prostate ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Retention

A growing number of studies have explored endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided vascular catheterization. Potential clinical applications of EUS-guided portal venous access include angiography, measurement of the portosystemic pressure gradient, EUS-guided transhepatic intrahepatic portosystemic shunt creation and portal vein sampling for the evaluation in gastrointestinal cancer. The following article reviews the different devices and techniques employed in these applications.
Angiography ; Endosonography ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; Portal Pressure* ; Portal Vein ; Portasystemic Shunt, Surgical ; Ultrasonography ; Vascular Access Devices

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is now well established as an important tool in clinical practice. From purely diagnostic imaging, it has progressed to include tissue acquisition, which provided the basis for therapeutic procedures. Even as interventional EUS developed, there has been ongoing progress in EUS diagnostic capabilities due to improved imaging systems, better needles for tissue acquisition and development of enhanced imaging functions such as contrast harmonic EUS (CHEUS) and EUS elastography. EUS is well established for differentiation of subepithelial lesions, for T-staging of luminal gastrointestinal and pancreaticobiliary malignancies, for differentiation of benign pancreaticobiliary disorders and for diagnostic tissue acquisition, which can be achieved by EUS-guided fine needle aspiration or by EUS-guided fine needle biopsy using dedicated biopsy needles. This review briefly describes the technique of performing EUS and then discusses its clinical utility in terms of gastrointestinal cancer staging, the evaluation of pancreaticobiliary disorders and tissue acquisition. Enhanced imaging techniques such as CHEUS and EUS elastography are briefly reviewed.
Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; Endosonography ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; Needles ; Neoplasm Staging ; Phenobarbital ; Ultrasonography*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: A barbed puncture needle with a side hole was recently developed to improve sample quality and quantity in endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). In this study, we retrospectively assessed the usefulness of this puncture needle. METHODS: Factors affecting diagnostic yield, safety, and diagnostic accuracy were investigated in 76 patients who consecutively underwent EUS-FNA for neoplastic lesions at our hospital between January and December 2013. RESULTS: The procedure was successful in all cases; the rates of sample collection and determination of the correct diagnosis were 92.1% and 89.5%, respectively. The mean number of needle passes required for diagnosis was 1.1. Complications included mild intraluminal bleeding in two patients (2.6%). Multivariate analysis revealed that lesion size (< or =20 mm) was significantly associated with a decreased chance of determining the correct diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Core biopsy needles with a side hole are safe and provide a satisfactory diagnostic yield. However, the side hole may potentially reduce the rate of making the correct diagnosis in small lesions.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Digestive System Neoplasms/*diagnosis/ultrasonography ; Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration/*instrumentation ; Equipment Design ; Equipment Safety ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract/pathology/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Needles/adverse effects/*statistics & numerical data ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Statistics, Nonparametric

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We evaluated the effectiveness of an endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS)-based treatment plan compared to an endoscopy-based treatment plan in selecting candidates with early gastric cancer (EGC) for endoscopic submucosal dissection based on the prediction of invasion depth. METHODS: We reviewed 393 EGCs with differentiated histology from 380 patients who underwent EUS from July 2007 to April 2010. The effectiveness of the EUS-based and endoscopy-based plans was evaluated using a simplified hypothetical treatment algorithm. RESULTS: The numbers of endoscopically determined mucosal, indeterminate, and submucosal cancers were 253 (64.4%), 56 (14.2%), and 84 (21.4%), respectively. Overall, the appropriate treatment selection rates were 75.3% (296/393) in the endoscopy-based plan and 71.5% (281/393) in the EUS-based plan (p=0.184). For endoscopic mucosal cancers, the appropriate treatment selection rates in the endoscopy-based plan were 88.1% (223/253), while the use of an EUS-based plan significantly decreased this rate to 81.4% (206/253) (p=0.036). For endoscopic submucosal cancers, the appropriate selection rates did not differ between the endoscopy-based plan (46.4%, 39/84) and the EUS-based plan (53.6%, 45/84) (p=0.070). CONCLUSIONS: EUS did not increase the likelihood of selecting the appropriate treatment in differentiated-type EGC. Therefore, EUS may not be necessary before treating differentiated-type EGC, especially in endoscopically presumed mucosal cancers.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Algorithms ; Clinical Decision-Making/*methods ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal/*statistics & numerical data ; Endosonography/*statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Gastric Mucosa/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Patient Selection ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/surgery/*ultrasonography

Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) is a process of incorporating imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Positron emission tomography (PET), and ultrasound (US) during radiation therapy (RT) to improve treatment accuracy. It allows real-time or near real-time visualization of anatomical information to ensure that the target is in its position as planned. In addition, changes in tumor volume and location due to organ motion during treatment can be also compensated. IGRT has been gaining popularity and acceptance rapidly in RT over the past 10 years, and many published data have been reported on prostate, bladder, head and neck, and gastrointestinal cancers. However, the role of IGRT in lymphoma management is not well defined as there are only very limited published data currently available. The scope of this paper is to review the current use of IGRT in the management of lymphoma. The technical and clinical aspects of IGRT, lymphoma imaging studies, the current role of IGRT in lymphoma management and future directions will be discussed.
Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; Head ; Lymphoma* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neck ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prostate ; Radiotherapy, Image-Guided* ; Tumor Burden ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Bladder

Subepithelial tumor (SET) is a protruding elevated mass covered with normal appearing mucosa, and is a relatively common finding during esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Recently, the incidence of asymptomatic small SETs is increasing due to esophagogastroduodenoscopy for national gastric cancer screening program in Korea. Unfortunately, the management of SETs is still controversial because the natural history of SETs is hardly known. There are only few studies about the natural history of SETs, especially in the stomach. According to studies, the overall rate of increased size of gastric SETs is 5.4~28%. Tumor size, age, non-upper area of the stomach, and detection of anechoic lesion or echogenic foci on endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) are related with size increase in gastric SETs. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are one of the most important tumors, and the prognosis of GISTs is closely connected with tumor size, mitotic count, and organ location. Among them, tumor size is relatively easy to approach with esophagogastroduodenoscopy or EUS. Asymptomatic gastric SETs < or =2 cm show a benign clinical course and the malignant potential of them is nearly 0%, even if the gastric SETs are confirmed as GISTs. However, asymptomatic gastric SETs >2 cm, < or =5 cm might be considered for detailed pathologic diagnosis and treatment, if the possibility of GISTs cannot be ruled out. Well-designed, prospective studies are required for more accurate management of SETs.
Diagnosis ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ; Incidence ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Mucous Membrane ; Natural History ; Prognosis ; Stomach ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of a forward-viewing linear endoscopic ultrasound (FV-EUS) in diagnostic EUS procedures compared to standard oblique-viewing EUS (OV-EUS). METHODS: This study was a prospective, randomized study that permitted crossover. Fifty-one patients with subepithelial pancreatobiliary and upper gastrointestinal lesions underwent FV-EUS and OV-EUS sequentially, in random order. The EUS visualization was performed by a novice endosonographer, and the image quality of specific lesions was scored by an expert endosonographer. If fine-needle aspiration (FNA) was indicated, it was performed using both echoendoscopes by an expert endosonographer. RESULTS: Both of the EUS procedures had similar visualization times and image quality. In general, the visualization time was inversely related to the diameter of the specific lesions. In subepithelial lesions of the stomach and duodenum, the visualization time (98.8+/-62.2 seconds vs 139.0+/-66.6 seconds, p=0.008) and image quality (4.1+/-1.3 vs 3.3+/-1.7, p=0.02) of FV-EUS were significantly superior to OV-EUS. FV-EUS-guided FNA of pancreatic masses was successful in seven patients (87.5%). CONCLUSIONS: FV-EUS may increase the ease of access to gastrointestinal subepithelial lesions compared to conventional OV-EUS. The performance of FV-EUS for evaluating pancreatobiliary diseases and performing interventions was comparable to conventional OV-EUS.
Aged ; Biliary Tract Neoplasms/*ultrasonography ; Cross-Over Studies ; Endosonography/*instrumentation/methods ; *Equipment Design ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/*ultrasonography ; Humans ; Image Enhancement/*instrumentation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/*ultrasonography ; Prospective Studies

Pancreatic tumor is one of the most difficult diseases to diagnose and treat because of its anatomical location and characteristics. Recently, there have been several innovative trials on the treatment of pancreatic tumors using endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) because it allows selective access to the difficult to reach target organ along the gastrointestinal tract and can differentiate vessels by color Doppler. Among these trials, several have investigated EUS-guided ethanol lavage with or without paclitaxel for pancreatic cystic tumors. These studies show a 33% to 79% complete resolution rate with a favorable safety profile. Compared to EUS-guided ethanol lavage for pancreatic cystic tumors, EUS-guided radiofrequency ablation is considered a less invasive treatment method for pancreatic cancer. Although there are still several difficulties and concerns about complications, one clinical study reported 72.8% feasibility with favorable safety, and therefore, we anticipate the results of ongoing studies with these new less invasive techniques.
Catheter Ablation ; Endosonography ; Ethanol ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Paclitaxel ; Pancreatic Cyst* ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Therapeutic Irrigation ; Ultrasonography

Tumors of the major duodenal papilla, also known as ampullary tumor, are rare with an approximate 5% incidence of all gastrointestinal neoplasm. These tumors seem to be detected more frequently with increasing performance of upper endoscopic examination and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Adenoma, most common benign disease of ampullary tumor, is very important because of its potential to undergo malignant transformation to ampullary cancer. Especially, endoscopic ultrasound or transpapillary intraductal ultrasonography can provide more detailed and accurate information on the extent of ampullary tumors and proper treatment should be done after diagnosis. Considering perioperative morbidity and mortality of surgical resection, endoscopic papillectomy is regarded as a curative treatment of ampullary adenoma. However, the indication of the procedure is very strict and there are various complications related to the procedure. Therefore, it is important to understand the role of endoscopy in diagnosis and treatment of ampullary tumor. In this review, the diagnostic role of endoscopy for ampullary tumor and the treatment method of endoscopic papillectomy will be discussed.
Adenoma ; Ampulla of Vater ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Diagnosis* ; Endoscopy* ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; Incidence ; Mortality ; Ultrasonography