Diagnostics (Sep 2021)

The Role of Endoscopic Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Gallbladder Lesions

  • Senju Hashimoto,
  • Kazunori Nakaoka,
  • Naoto Kawabe,
  • Teiji Kuzuya,
  • Kohei Funasaka,
  • Mitsuo Nagasaka,
  • Yoshihito Nakagawa,
  • Ryoji Miyahara,
  • Tomoyuki Shibata,
  • Yoshiki Hirooka

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11101789
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 10
p. 1789

Abstract

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Gallbladder (GB) diseases represent various lesions including gallstones, cholesterol polyps, adenomyomatosis, and GB carcinoma. This review aims to summarize the role of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in the diagnosis of GB lesions. EUS provides high-resolution images that can improve the diagnosis of GB polypoid lesions, GB wall thickness, and GB carcinoma staging. Contrast-enhancing agents may be useful for the differential diagnosis of GB lesions, but the evidence of their effectiveness is still limited. Thus, further studies are required in this area to establish its usefulness. EUS combined with fine-needle aspiration has played an increasing role in providing a histological diagnosis of GB tumors in addition to GB wall thickness.

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