Barium evaluation of esophageal strictures: still useful or a bust?. Gupta S, Levine MS, Rubesin SE, et al., Usefulness of barium studies for differentiating benign and malignant strictures of the esophagus. Am J Roentgenol 2003;180:737-44

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the usefulness of barium radiological studies for differentiating benign and malignant strictures of the esophagus. Esophageal radiology has proved to be a useful technique for demonstrating luminal narrowing as a cause of dysphagia, with reported sensitivities exceeding 95% for the detection of strictures (1, 2, 3). In this retrospective study, a search of the radiological and endoscopic records revealed 100 patients (50 women and 50 men, mean age 61 yr) with esophageal strictures who had both examinations. Of these patients, 74 presented with dysphagia, and endoscopic tissue sampling was performed in 57.