Detection of early gastric cancer using hydro-stomach CT

Traditionally, both air and tap water have been used as oral contrast agents to achieve adequate gastric distension for preoperative computed tomography (CT) imaging in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). Despite introduction of multi-detector row CT techniques and the use of multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) images, the detection rate of EGC on hydrostomach CT has still been unsatisfactory.

A research article published on February 28, 2011 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The authors conducted a comparison study for the detection of EGC on hydro-stomach CT between blinded analysis and unblinded analysis with regard to gastroscopic and surgical-histological findings to see whether the detection rate of EGC on unblinded analysis can be improved as compared to that of blinded analysis. The researchers further aimed to assess factors affecting visibility of cancer foci on hydro-stomach CT imaging.

The study showed that hydro-stomach CT imaging was not a reliable tool for the detection of EGC. The poor diagnostic performance of hydro-stomach CT to detect EGC was not significantly different between blinded and unblinded analysis. The size and depth of invasion of an EGC were two independent factors for visibility.

Reference: Park KJ, Lee MW, Koo JH, Park Y, Kim H, Choi D, Lee SJ. Detection of early gastric cancer using hydro-stomach CT: Blinded vs unblinded analysis. World J Gastroenterol 2011; 17(8): 1051-1057

Correspondence to Dr. Min Woo Lee, Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50, Ilwon-Dong, Kangnam-Ku, Seoul 135-710, South Korea. leeminwoo0@gmail.com

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About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H. pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2009 IF: 2.092. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.