Endoscopic Ultrasound Elastography

Sonoelastography is based on the knowledge that some diseases, such as cancer, lead to a change in tissue hardness. Elastography examines the elastic properties of tissues by applying a slight compression to the tissue and comparing the images obtained before and after this compression. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is today the best technique to diagnose a small pancreatic mass and to determine the histology of such lesions. However, the accuracy of EUS-FNA is around 85-90%. In this study, elastography was used to differentiate benign from malignant pancreatic masses. The bright future of the second generation of elastography, the quantitative elastography or ratio elastography, is also discussed.