[A case of mediastinal recurrence of esophageal cancer diagnosed by endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration].

A 63-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for treatment of cervical esophageal cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. He had undergone subtotal esophagectomy for esophageal cancer and partial hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma after preoperative chemotherapy and transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE). Histologically, esophageal cancer was diagnosed as pT3, pN2, M0, pStage III. Five months after surgery, a 2.2 cm tumor with abnormal uptake of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) was found in the upper mediastinum by positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT). To obtain a definitive diagnosis, we performed endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) on the mediastinal tumor. A tumefactive mucosal lesion was present in the main bronchus and the presence of a tumor was confirmed by ultrasonography. We diagnosed the lesion as a mediastinal recurrence of the primary esophageal cancer because squamous cell carcinoma was observed upon cytological examination. Chemoradiotherapy was performed for the mediastinal recurrence. EBUS-TBNA was useful for the diagnosis of metastases and recurrence of esophageal cancer in the mediastinum.