Interobserver Agreement of Endoscopic Ultrasonography and Endoscopic Sonoelastography in the Evaluation of Lymph Nodes

Interobserver Agreement of Endoscopic Ultrasonography and Endoscopic Sonoelastography in the Evaluation of Lymph Nodes

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is an important part of the pre-treatment evaluation of patients with upper gastrointestinal tract cancer (esophageal, gastric, pancreatic and liver cancer). When planning the optimal therapy in patients with upper gastrointestinal malignancies it is essential to know the exact lymph node stage. Recently endoscopic sonoelastography(ES) has been added to conventional EUS examination and may provide complementary information to distinguish benign for malignant lymph nodes.

The N-stage relates to the treatment choice and the prognosis, and it is therefore of particular interest to know the interobserver agreement in operator dependent techniques. This study evaluate the interobserver agreement of EUS and ES evaluation og lymph nodes.

Inclusion Criteria:

• the presence of a lymph node more than 10mm in diameter (short axis) detected during the EUS examination

Exclusion Criteria:

• inadequate ES images were obtained by one of the observers