Computed tomography with a stomach protocol and virtual gastroscopy in the staging of gastric cancer: an initial experience

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the accuracy of multidetector computed tomography with a stomach protocol in staging of gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated 14 patients who underwent computed tomography in a 16-channel scanner for preoperative staging of gastric adenocarcinoma between September 2015 and December 2016. All images were analyzed by the same radiologist, who had extensive experience in abdominal cancer imaging. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the method were calculated by comparing it with the pathology result. All patients underwent partial or total gastrectomy. RESULTS: The mean age was 61.5 years, and 53.8% of the patients were male. The gastric lesions were classified as T1/T2 in 35.7% of the cases, as T3 in 28.5%, and as T4 in 35.7%. Eleven patients (68.7%) had suspicious (N positive) lymph nodes. The accuracy of the T1/T2, T3, T4, and lymph node staging tests was 85%, 78%, 90%, and 78%, respectively. The respective sensitivity and specificity values were 71% and 100% for T1/T2, 66% and 81% for T3, 100% and 90% for T4, and 88% and 60% for lymph nodes. CONCLUSION: Multidetector computed tomography with a stomach protocol, used in conjunction with virtual gastroscopy, shows good accuracy in the tumor and lymph node staging of gastric adenocarcinoma.