Value of two-phase dynamic multidetector computed tomography in differential diagnosis of post-inflammatory strictures from esophageal cancer

Table 1 Computed tomography features of esophageal stenosis

CT features	Group A(benign stenosis,n = 39)	Group B(malignant stenosis,n = 31)
Luminal mass	2	27
Heterogeneity of contrast medium uptake	3	10
Homogeneity of contrast medium uptake	36	21
Eccentric esophageal wall thickening	3	22
Concentric esophageal wall thickening	37	9
Suprastenotic dilatation cup-shaped	1	17
Suprastenotic dilatation conically shaped	34	5
Smooth mucous membrane at the transition to stenosis	32	2
Rupture of the mucous membrane at the upper boundary of stenosis	0	25
Smooth upper and lower boundaries	37	6
Tuberous upper and lower boundaries	2	25
Presence of the mucous membrane in the stenosis «target sign»	30	1
Absence of the mucous membrane visualization in thickened walls	9	30
Presence of enlarged lymph nodes	6	18

CT: Computed tomography.

Table 2 Results of correlation analysis in group A (benign stenosis)

CT-features	Spearman’s rank correlation test (rs), Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r)	P value
Concentric esophageal wall thickening	rs = 0.656	0.000
Smooth upper and lower boundaries	rs = 0.510	0.000
Absence of the luminal mass	rs = 0.827	0.000
Presence of the mucous membrane in the stenosis ("target sign")	rs = 0.779	0.000
Homogeneity of contrast medium uptake	rs = 0.354	0.003
Conically shaped suprastenotic dilatation	rs = 0.711	0.000
Smooth mucous membrane at the transition to stenosis	rs = 0.657	0.000
Size of the regional lymph nodes	rs =0.542	0.000
Wall thickness (mm)	rs = 0.080	0.437
Length of esophageal wall thickness (mm)	rs = 0.263	0.290
CT attenuation value of the post-inflammatory stricture in native phase	r = 0.055	0.652
CT attenuation value of the post-inflammatory stricture in arterial phase	r = -0.736	0.000
CT attenuation value of the post-inflammatory stricture in venous phase	r = -0.444	0.000
CT attenuation value of the post-inflammatory stricture in delayed phase	r = 0.579	0.000
ΔCT in unenhanced phase	r = 0.068	0.594
ΔCT in arterial phase	r = -0.709	0.000
ΔCT in venous phase	r = -0.565	0.000
ΔCT in delayed phase	r = 0.652	0.000

Computed tomography (CT) features that have strong and average correlation coefficient values are underlined.