Endoscopic ultrasound staging and guided fine needle aspiration biopsy in patients with resectable pancreatic malignancies: a single-center prospective experience.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic ultrasound staging and guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (EUS-FNA) is a highly accurate diagnostic method, useful in characterizing pancreatic lesions, obtaining definitive tissue diagnosis in patients with suspected pancreatic lesions, and providing accurate locoregional staging that enhances diagnostic certainty and evaluation of appropriateness of surgical intervention. The aims of this study were to evaluate the preoperative contribution of EUS staging and EUS-FNA in patients with suspected resectable pancreatic malignancies.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in a tertiary referral center. During a 54-month period, a total of 103 consecutive patients were prospectively evaluated with EUS and EUS-FNA. Enrolled in the study were patients with resectable pancreatic lesions, who underwent surgery.

RESULTS: The overall operating characteristics of EUSFNA were sensitivity 96.7%, specificity 90.0%, positive predictive value 98.9%, negative predictive value 75.0%, and diagnostic accuracy 96.1%.

CONCLUSION: EUS and EUS-FNA have a high accuracy and positive predictive value in the preoperative determination of resectability in pancreatic cancer.