Endoscopic Ultrasound for Detection of Liver Metastasis: Hope or Hype?

Abstract

Transabdominal ultrasonography, contrast-enhanced computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the common diagnostic tests for the detection of hepatic lesions. Use of enhanced and advanced MRI technique, that is, diffusion weighted MRI and hepatocyte-specific contrast agents, has further improved the accuracy of detection of metastatic liver lesions ≤ 10 mm in diameter. However, even with these advanced imaging modalities sensitivity is low for lesions smaller than 10 mm when compared with standard intraoperative ultrasound. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is an emerging imaging modality with resolution sufficient to detect and sample lesions as small as 5 mm in diameter. In this news and views, we have discussed the role of standard and enhanced EUS for the detection of metastatic liver lesions.