[Preoperative staging of stenosing esophageal carcinoma--prospective comparison of mini-endosonography with conventional endosonography].

Staging of esophageal malignancies can easily and safely be performed with ultrasonic miniprobes. Unlike large-diameter ultrasonic instruments, miniprobes may pass even high-grade malignant esophageal strictures without prior bouginage. Image quality and resolution of miniprobe sonography exceeds that of conventional endosonography, thus achieving higher accuracy rates for T staging, while those for N staging have found to be similar. As miniprobe sonography is able to improve patients' convenience and security and is highly cost effective compared to conventional endosonography, miniprobe sonography appears to be a valuable addition to the staging armamentarium in esophageal carcinoma.