Korean J Gastroenterol.  2000 May;35(5):644-648.

Gastric Submucosal Tumors Showing Contrast Enhancement After Injecting Levovist in Endoscopic Ultrasonography

• Baik SK
• Lee DK
• Jeong YS
• Kim KH
• Kim HS
• Kwon SO
• Lee JI
• Cho MY

Abstract

Contrast enhancing media has been mainly used in enhancing the color doppler signal so far. Since conventional abdominal ultrasonography can not detect the small particles of contrast enhancer due to its low frequency range, it was rarely used in B-mode imaging. However, endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) with a high frequency range can detect the particles and produce a contrast-enhancing effect when injecting a contrast enhancer such as Levovist. Gastric submucosal tumor shows various ultrasonograpic features, depending on histopathology, but its differential diagnosis is limited. We experienced two cases where the enhancing features on EUS for submucosal tumors were recognized by using Levovist and this helped preoperative prediction of differential diagnosis. The use of contrast enhancer such as Levovist during EUS of submucosal tumor enables us to learn the hemodynamic features of the tumor. Therefore, the differential diagnosis and prediction of the characteristics of the submucosal tumor are possible with this helpful modality.

Keyword

Contrast-enhancement; Endoscopic ultrasonography; Submucosal tumor of stomach

MeSH Terms

Diagnosis, Differential
Endosonography*
Hemodynamics
Ultrasonography