Endoscopic-ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration and the role of the cytopathologist in solid pancreatic lesion diagnosis

Patholog Res Int. 2012:2012:317167. doi: 10.1155/2012/317167. Epub 2012 May 15.

Abstract

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is the most sensitive imaging modality for solid pancreatic lesions. The specificity, however, is low (about 75%). It can be increased to 100% with an accuracy of 95% by the addition of fine-needle aspiration (FNA). Cytopathology plays an important role. The final diagnosis is based upon the correlation of clinical, EUS, and cytologic features. A close interaction with the cytopathologist is required in improving the diagnostic yield. In this paper, we present an overview of the role of EUS-guided FNA and importance of close interaction with the cytopathologist. Day to day examples of different solid pancreatic lesions have been presented at the end.