Abstract:ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy and limitation of endoscopic ultrasonography(EUS) on the diagnosis of gastrointestinal submucosal tumor (SMT) prior to endoscopic resection. MethodsData of 211 patients, who were confirmed as gastrointestinal SMT before operation and received endoscopic resection for gastrointestinal submucosal tumor at Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai Ruijin Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018 were analyzed. The value and limitation of EUS for SMT were investigated according to the final pathology. ResultsFor the lesion distribution, 66 were in esophagus, 108 in stomach, 2 in duodenum and 35 in rectum. The accuracy of tumor origin by EUS was 99.5% (210/211). The accuracy of tumor nature by EUS was 75.8% (160/211). For the lesions originated from different locations, the diagnostic accuracy for lesion originated from esophageal mucosa/submucosa, esophageal muscularis propria, gastric mucosa/submucosa, gastric muscularis propria, duodenal submucosa, rectal mucosa/submucosa by EUS were 90.0%(54/60), 83.3%(5/6), 31.0%(13/42), 89.4%(59/66), 50.0%(1/2), 82.9%(29/35), respectively. With respect to hypoechoic lesions, leiomyoma, leiomyoma/gastrointestinal stromal tumor, and neuroendocrine tumor were the predominant type of tumor originated from esophageal mucosa, gastrointestinal muscularis propria and rectal mucosa/submucosal, respectively. ConclusionAlthough EUS is indispensible for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal submucosal tumor, it plays a limited role in the differential diagnosis of various lesions originated from gastric mucosa and submucosa. Since part of the submucosal tumors may be potential for malignant development, an diagnosis made by EUS should be more careful.