Hydro-Stomach CT Imaging Not Effective for Detection of Early Gastric Cancer

Traditionally, both air and tap water have been used as oral contrast agents to achieve adequate gastric distension for preoperative computed tomography (CT) imaging in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). In spite of the introduction of multidetector row CT techniques and the use of multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) images, the detection rate of EGC on hydrostomach CT has still been unsatisfactory.

A research article published online February 28, 2011, in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The authors, from the Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine (Seoul, Korea), conducted a comparison study for the detection of EGC on hydro-stomach CT between blinded evaluation and unblinded analysis with regard to gastroscopic and surgical-histologic findings to assess whether the detection rate of EGC on unblinded analysis can be improved as compared to that of blinded analysis. The researchers additionally tried to evaluate factors affecting visibility of cancer foci on hydro-stomach CT imaging.

The study's findings revealed that hydro-stomach CT imaging was not an effective tool for the detection of EGC. The poor diagnostic performance of hydro-stomach CT to detect EGC was not considerably different between blinded and unblinded analysis. The size and depth of invasion of an EGC were two independent factors for image quality.

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Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine