Present and future of endoscopic ultrasonography

Endoscopic ultrasonography and endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration are well-established techniques, encompassing a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Along with traditional indications that constitute everyday clinical practice in all endoscopic ultrasonography centres, new indications are emerging that resemble the continuing research carried on in this field. Some of these are innovative applications, developed by highly experienced endosonographers and with a putative role for clinical practice in the near future. Others are merely experimental applications, carried out on in animal models or in highly selected groups of patients, opening up new fascinating areas of research but not for imminent introduction in clinical practice. The purpose of this review, after summarising the present indications of endoscopic ultrasonography, is to focus on the future applications and try to establish their possible advent, either in the near or in the far future. (c) 2004 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.