Diagnosis and follow-up value of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) in primary gastric non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

BACKGROUND: The lesion of primary gastric non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (PGL) originates from the submucosa, so conventional gastroscopy has limited diagnostic potential. This study evaluated the diagnosis and follow-up value of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) in PGL. METHODS: Seventy-nine patients diagnosed with PGL either by EUS and biopsy pathology or by postoperative pathology were included in the study. All subjects underwent EUS with deep targeted biopsy and regular follow-up. RESULTS: We found sensitivity and specificity of EUS combined with deep targeted biopsy for PGL as 87.3% (69/79) and 80.0% (20/25) respectively, and the diagnostic accuracy as 85.6% (89/104). EUS combined with deep targeted biopsy had significantly greater diagnostic accuracy than gastroscopy [85.6% (89/104) vs. 57.7% (60/104); (P<0.001)]. The diagnostic accuracy of T tumor staging and N tumor staging of EUS were 13/13 and 11/13 respectively compared with postoperative staging. The mean time of complete remission of lymphoma after eradication treatment in the H. pylori-negative (successful eradication) group (3.2±0.7 months) was shorter than that in H. pylori-positive patients (failed eradication) group (4.5±0.8 months), there was statistically significant difference between the two groups (t=4.3, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that EUS combined with deep targeted biopsy was associated with increased detection of Primary gastric non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (PGL), in terms of depth and extent of the lesion to guide treatment selection and to evaluate treatment efficacy.