Objective: To study the value of transesophageal echo probe (TEEP) in preoperative staging of esophageal carcinoma.
Method: Between September 1996 and August 1997, 32 patients (22 men and 10 women) with esophageal carcinoma, aged 49 to 72 years (mean age, 55.2 years), underwent surgery. Preoperative examinations included upper gastrointestinal series, endoscopy, and TEEP. Seven of these patients also received CT scan. Resected specimens of the esophagus and lymph nodes were examined histopathologically, and the results of TEEP and CT were compared with intraoperative macroscopic findings and pathologic results.
Result: The tumor length measured by gastroscopy, TEEP and pathology was 4.524 +/- 1.806 cm, 5.269 +/- 1.916 cm, and 5.345 +/- 1.901 cm, respectively. There was a significant difference between the results of gastroscopy and those of pathology (P < 0.05), but no significant difference was seen between the results of TEEP and those of pathology (P > 0.05). The accuracy of TEEP for predicting T and N staging was 80.6% (25/31) and 77.3% (34/44), respectively. The accuracy of CT for predicting T staging was only 42.9%.
Conclusion: TEEP is a reliable method for the preoperative TN-staging of esophageal carcinoma and it is more accurate than CT. TEEP is more accurate than gastroscopy in measuring the length of esophageal cancer. In our experience, the procedure is safe without any complications.