Brief Articles
Copyright ©2009 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 21, 2009; 15(19): 2361-2366
Published online May 21, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.2361
Endoscopic ultrasonography does not differentiate neoplastic from non-neoplastic small gallbladder polyps
Young Koog Cheon, Won Young Cho, Tae Hee Lee, Young Deok Cho, Jong Ho Moon, Joon Seong Lee, Chan Sup Shim
Young Koog Cheon, Won Young Cho, Tae Hee Lee, Young Deok Cho, Jong Ho Moon, Joon Seong Lee, Chan Sup Shim, Institute for Digestive Research and Digestive Disease Center, Soon Chun Hyang University College of Medicine, 657 Hannam-Dong, Yongsan-Ku, Seoul 140-743, South Korea
Author contributions: Cheon YK designed the study, interpreted the data and drafted the article; Cho WY participated in data collection and interpretation; Lee TH, Cho YD, Moon JH, Lee JS and Shim CS participated in data collection.
Correspondence to: Dr. Young Koog Cheon, Institute for Digestive Research and Digestive Disease Center, Soon Chun Hyang University College of Medicine, 657 Hannam-Dong, Yongsan-Ku, Seoul 140-743, South Korea. yksky001@hanmail.net
Telephone: +82-2-7099202
Fax: +82-2-7491968
Received: March 2, 2009
Revised: April 13, 2009
Accepted: April 20, 2009
Published online: May 21, 2009
Abstract

AIM: To assess the ability of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) to differentiate neoplastic from non-neoplastic polypoid lesions of the gallbladder (PLGs).

METHODS: The uses of EUS and transabdominal ultrasonography (US) were retrospectively analyzed in 94 surgical cases of gallbladder polyps less than 20 mm in diameter.

RESULTS: The prevalence of neoplastic lesions with a diameter of 5-10 mm was 17.2% (10/58); 11-15 mm, 15.4% (4/26), and 16-20 mm, 50% (5/10). The overall diagnostic accuracies of EUS and US for small PLGs were 80.9% and 63.9% (P < 0.05), respectively. EUS correctly distinguished 12 (63.2%) of 19 neoplastic PLGs but was less accurate for polyps less than 1.0 cm (4/10, 40%) than for polyps greater than 1.0 cm (8/9, 88.9%) (P = 0.02).

CONCLUSION: Although EUS was more accurate than US, its accuracy for differentiating neoplastic from non-neoplastic PLGs less than 1.0 cm was low. Thus, EUS alone is not sufficient for determining a treatment strategy for PLGs of less than 1.0 cm.

Keywords: Endoscopic ultrasonography, Neoplastic lesion, Polypoid gallbladder lesion