OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of multidetector computed tomography in the preoperative investigation of tumor invasion depth and lymph node and metastatic involvement according to the TNM classification, in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-four patients with biopsy-confirmed gastric cancer underwent preoperative staging with 64-channel multidetector computed tomography. Two independent radiologists analyzed the images and classified the findings. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and overall accuracy were calculated for each observer. The interobserver agreement was also evaluated. RESULTS: The accuracy in the classification of categories T ranged from 74% to 96% for observer 1 and from 80% to 92% for observer 2. The overall accuracy was 70% for both observers. The weighted kappa index was 0.75, consistent with a significant interobserver agreement. The accuracy in the classification of lymph node involvement (category N) ranged from 55% to 79% for observer 1 and from 73% to 82% for observer 2. The evaluation of metastatic involvement showed an overall accuracy of 89.6% for both observers. CONCLUSION: 64-channel multidetector computed tomography demonstrated clinically relevant accuracy in the preoperative staging of gastric adenocarcinoma as regards invasion depth (T category) and metastatic involvement (M category).

Keywords: Gastric cancer; Computed tomography; Staging.