3 necessary diagnostic items for patients with esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is a common malignant tumor that causes serious physical and mental damage to patients. Early diagnosis and active treatment are the guarantee for prolonging the patient's survival time and achieving better therapeutic effects. So, what are the necessary examination items for the diagnosis of esophageal cancer patients?

1. Imaging examination

The imaging examinations for patients with esophageal cancer mainly include two aspects, namely X-ray barium meal examination and CT scan examination.

X-ray barium meal examination is an important means of diagnosing tumors in the esophagus and cardia. The focus of the examination is to determine the location of the lesion, understand the length of the lesion and the degree of obstruction, and determine whether the esophageal lesion has a tendency to spread.

CT scan is an auxiliary measure for the definitive diagnosis of esophageal cancer. It can clearly understand the relationship between the esophagus and the adjacent mediastinal organs and is helpful in clarifying the staging of the disease.

2. Esophageal exfoliative cytology examination

Esophageal exfoliative cytology examination is an important method for large-scale screening of esophageal cancer. Its accuracy rate can reach more than 90%. It is simple, convenient, safe and effective to operate, and causes little harm to patients.

Esophageal exfoliative cytology examination combined with X-ray barium meal examination can be used as the basis for the definitive diagnosis of esophageal cancer. It is also a diagnostic method that causes less pain to patients, but it should not be used for patients with esophageal stenosis and obstruction.

3. Examination of esophageal function

The examination of esophageal function is mainly based on motor function tests. There are two main methods, namely esophageal pressure measurement, which is particularly suitable for patients with suspected esophageal motility disorders; and acid clearance test, which helps to test the peristaltic efficiency of the esophageal body in excreting acid.