The usefulness of endoscopic ultrasonography for the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cystic tumor / 대한내과학회지

ABSTRACT

Pancreatic cystic lesions are becoming more and more important because of the advancement of various kinds of imaging modalities. Endoscopic ultrasonography is recognized as an indispensible tool for the differential diagnosis of pancreatic cystic tumors. High quality images enable us to identify the presence of septum, mural nodule, wall thickness and other internal details. Fine needle aspiration can give us more information about cystic fluid such as amylase, CEA, and cytology. For the treatment of benign pancreatic cystic tumors, endoscopic ultrasound guided ethanol lavage and/or paclitaxel injections are also tried and shows quite good therapeutic efficacy with minimum complications. The importance of endoscopic ultrasonography for the differential diagnosis and therapeutic decision making can not be overemphasized.