Beji H, Chtourou MF, Zribi S, Kallel Y, Bouassida M, Touinsi H. Are biopsies during endoscopic ultrasonography necessary for a suspected esophageal leiomyoma? Is laparoscopy always feasible? World J Clin Cases 2023; 11(9): 2116-2118 [PMID: 36998946 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i9.2116]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hazem Beji, MD, Surgeon, Department of General Surgery Hospital Mohamed Taher Maamouri Nabeul, University of Tunis El Manar-Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, 1007 Street Jabbari Tunis Tunisia, Nabeul 8000, Tunisia. hazembj@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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/
Hazem Beji, Mohamed Fadhel Chtourou, Slim Zribi, Yassine Kallel, Mahdi Bouassida, Hassen Touinsi, Department of General Surgery Hospital Mohamed Taher Maamouri Nabeul, University of Tunis El Manar-Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Nabeul 8000, Tunisia
Author contributions: Beji H and Chtourou MF designed the study; Zribi S and Kallel Y performed the research; Chtourou MF analyzed the data; Beji H wrote the letter; Bouassida M and Touinsi H revised the letter.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hazem Beji, MD, Surgeon, Department of General Surgery Hospital Mohamed Taher Maamouri Nabeul, University of Tunis El Manar-Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, 1007 Street Jabbari Tunis Tunisia, Nabeul 8000, Tunisia. hazembj@gmail.com
Received: December 12, 2022 Peer-review started: December 12, 2022 First decision: January 17, 2023 Revised: January 18, 2023 Accepted: March 3, 2023 Article in press: March 3, 2023 Published online: March 26, 2023
Abstract
The present letter to the editor is related to the work entitled “Large leiomyoma of lower esophagus diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasonography-fine needle aspiration: A case report.” Although endoscopic ultrasonography seems necessary in a suspected leiomyoma of the esophagus, the performance of biopsies via fine needle aspiration is controversial as it increases the risk of complications such as bleeding, infection, and intraoperative perforations. Laparoscopy is the best treatment strategy for small tumors. Laparotomy with tumor enucleation or esophageal resection can be considered in large leiomyomas.
Core Tip: Endoscopic ultrasonography seems necessary in a suspected leiomyoma of the esophagus. However, the performance of biopsies via fine needle aspiration is controversial. It increases the risk of complications such as bleeding, infection, and intraoperative perforations. Moreover, there is a possibility of an inconclusive biopsy due to inadequate material. Laparoscopy is the best treatment option for small tumors. Laparotomy with tumor enucleation or esophageal resection can be considered in large leiomyomas.
