Purpose: Gastric stromal tumors (GIST) have no well defined biological characteristics, from either the pathological or immunohistochemical point of view, which can make their definition by imaging techniques difficult. We evaluated CT and EUS morphologic characteristics and signs of malignancy of eleven cases of GIST and compared the findings to the pathological classification.
Material and methods: EUS was performed with a 100 degrees, 5-7.5 MHz convex probe on a Pentax endoscope and CT using the byphasic spiral technique.
Results: The 11 GIST cases were ranked according to the criteria of malignancy defined by each of the two imaging techniques. There was a close correlation between the imaging-based and pathological classifications.
Conclusions: Size and homogeneous pattern prove to be the most reliable criteria to differentiate between benign and malignant lesions. EUS is more accurate than CT in diagnosing the nature of GIST, but CT allows a more complete and comprehensive evaluation. The data provided by the imaging techniques are fundamental to plan the therapeutic approach.