We have evaluated the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of laparoscopy under general anaesthesia, ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) in detecting intra-abdominal metastases in 90 consecutive patients with carcinoma of the oesophagus or cardia. Metastases were histologically confirmed as hepatic in 25 patients, nodal in 35 and peritoneal in nine. All investigations had high specificity (86-100 per cent) for each type of metastasis. Laparoscopy was found to be significantly more sensitive (P less than 0.01; P less than 0.02) and more accurate (P less than 0.01; P less than 0.01) than either ultrasound or CT, respectively, with regard to hepatic status. Although laparoscopy performed best with regard to nodal metastases, this reached statistical significance only when sensitivity of ultrasound was compared (P less than 0.01). Neither ultrasound nor CT detected any peritoneal metastases, although laparoscopy detected eight out of nine, giving a sensitivity of 89 per cent and an accuracy of 98 per cent. There was no morbidity or mortality associated with laparoscopy, which offers a safe, reliable method of determining intra-abdominal status and may obviate the need for surgery in some patients with malignant dysphagia.