Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 28, 2015; 21(16): 4809-4816
Published online Apr 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i16.4809
New endoscopic ultrasound techniques for digestive tract diseases: A comprehensive review
Fan-Sheng Meng, Zhao-Hong Zhang, Feng Ji
Fan-Sheng Meng, Feng Ji, Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, Zhejiang Province, China
Zhao-Hong Zhang, Department of Hematology, People’s Hospital of Linyi, Linyi 276300, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Meng FS and Zhang ZH searched the literature and wrote the manuscript; Ji F critically revised the manuscript; Meng FS and Zhang ZH contributed equally to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Feng Ji, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310000, Zhejiang Province, China. jifeng1126@sina.com
Telephone: +86-571-87236586 Fax: +86-571-87236611
Received: October 22, 2014
Peer-review started: October 27, 2014
First decision: December 11, 2014
Revised: January 14, 2015
Accepted: March 12, 2015
Article in press: March 12, 2015
Published online: April 28, 2015
Processing time: 187 Days and 7.3 Hours
Abstract

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is one of the most important modalities for the diagnosis of digestive tract diseases. EUS has been evolving ever since it was introduced. New techniques such as elastography and contrast enhancement have emerged, increasing the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of EUS for the diagnosis of digestive tract diseases including pancreatic masses and lymphadenopathy. EUS-elastography evaluates tissue elasticity and therefore, can be used to differentiate various lesions. Contrast-enhanced EUS can distinguish benign from malignant pancreatic lesions and lymphadenopathy using the intravenous injection of contrast agents. This review discusses the principles and types of these new techniques, as well as their clinical applications and limitations.

Keywords: Endoscopic ultrasound; Elastography; Contrast-enhanced; New techniques; Digestive tract diseases

Core tip: This article primarily focuses on emerging techniques such as elastography and contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasound. Principles, types and clinical applications are discussed. These emerging techniques have high accuracy, sensitivity and specificity in differential diagnosis between benign and malignant lesions.