Evaluation of patients with suspected gastric cancer by multidetector computed tomography

Aim: To retrospectively assess multidetector computed tomography (MDCT ) findings of the subjects admitted to Dicle University Faculty of Medicine and underwent endoscopic investigation at Department of Gastroenterology with preliminary diagnosis of gastric cancer, and thus to determine the role of MDCT in diagnosing gastric cancer. Material-Methods: Subjects that underwent gastric endoscopy and biopsy procedure at department of Gastroenterology between September 2008 and December 2014 were included In this study. All abdominopelvic MDCT studies were done at. All CT studies were carried out at CT suits (Brilliance 64 detector and Toshiba Activion 16 detector multidetector CT systems ) in our Department of Radiology. Cases were scanned from xiphoid process through symphisis pubis including inguinal orifice with inspiratory breath holding technique. Pathological results were taken as gold standart and were statistically compared with radiological findings. Findings: CT findings of 125 (96%) cases out 129 subjects with pathologically proved malignant pathology were interpreted in favor of malignant findings. sensitivity of CT in detection of gastric cancer was 96% . CT findings of 7 (30%) cases out of 22 subjects with pathologically proved benign lesions were interpreted in favor of benign findings. CT's specificity value was found to be 30%. Perigastric lymph node metastases were present in 22 (78%) cases out of 28 subjects who underwent surgical operation. On MDCT studies of those with lymph node metastases, perigastric LAP' s short diameter was ranged between 6 - 22 mm. Results: The correlation between endoscopic biopsy and MDCT findings of patients admitted with preliminary diagnosis of gastric cancer was 96%. Despite the high sensitivity in detection of gastric cancer the same success rate was not reached in detecting the lymph node metastases. In some cases, MDCT can replace endoscopical investigation which found to be traumatic by some individuals. Keywords : MDCT , gastric cancer, pathology