Radiologic Evaluation: Diagnosis of Postoperative Complications and Evaluation of Intraabdominal Metastases in Esophageal Cancer

Esophagus cancer (EC) has the eighth highest incidence and sixth most deadly type of cancer worldwide. Malignancy of the esophagus has a particularly poor prognosis because they typically cause no symptoms, so they are diagnosed late in their course. The outcome for patients with EC is strongly associated with the stage at initial diagnosis. Curative treatment for EC is primarily surgery, and about 20% of those who receive the diagnosis undergo surgery. Supplementary neoadjuvant chemotherapy or radio chemotherapy increases survival. EC is notorious for its aggressive behavior; it may invade local, regional, or distant structures by various pathways, including direct extension, lymphatic spread, and hematogenous metastasis. Age, lower third location, high-grade and large tumors, poor performance status, multiple metastasis sites, and presence of bone secondary metastatic EC are associated with poor prognosis. Intra-abdominal metastases of esophageal cancer are rare, and the liver is the most common solid organ of intra-abdominal metastases. US, endoscopic US, CT, MRI, and PET are imaging modalities that play an important role in the diagnosis, staging, detection of regional and distant metastases, and evaluation of postoperative complications in patients with esophageal cancer.