ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Tubercular lymphadenitis is the commonest extra pulmonary manifestation in cervical and mediastinal locations. Normal characteristics of lymph nodes (LN) have been described on ultrasonography as well as by Endoscopic Ultrasound. Many ultrasonic features have been described for evaluation of mediastinal lymph nodes. The inter and intraobserver agreement of the endosonographic features have not been uniformly established. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 266 patients underwent endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration and 134 cases were diagnosed as mediastinal tuberculosis. The endoscopic ultrasound location and features of these lymph nodes are described. CONCLUSION: Our series demonstrates the utility of endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration as the investigation of choice for diagnosis of mediastinal tuberculosis and also describes various endoscopic ultrasound features of such nodes.
ABSTRACT
Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is nowadays widespread minimally invasive procedure for diagnosing a large number of benign as well as malignant lesions. We report a case of a 62-year-old immunocompetent elderly male, who presented with high-grade fever, hepatosplenomegaly and mediastinal and intra-abdominal lymph nodes. He was residing in an old haweli with bats infestation. EUS-FNA of the subcarinal and the preaortic lymph node clinched the diagnosis. A rapid on-site evaluation of the cytology material revealed organisms conforming to the morphology of Histoplasma capsulatum. The patient was immediately started on amphotericin B and itraconazole and responded well. In this case, we found the role of EUS-FNA not only in diagnosis, but also in the follow-up of the patient.
ABSTRACT
Tuberculosis is a major health problem worldwide. In India, it is highly endemic. The most common manifestation is a pulmonary disease, but involvement of the gastrointestinal tract is not uncommon with the ileocecal region being the commonest site. Gastric tuberculosis is rare and usually associated with pulmonary tuberculosis or an immunodeficient state. Here, we report a case of gastric tuberculosis presenting as gastric outlet obstruction in an immunocompetent patient without evidence of pulmonary tuberculosis. Biopsy and PCR confirmed the diagnosis, and the patient responded well to standard antitubercular treatment. Though, gastric tuberculosis is rare, it should be considered as a possibility when patients present with gastric outlet obstruction, particularly in endemic areas with tuberculosis.
ABSTRACT
Endoscopic ultrasound-guided-fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is the preferred modality nowadays for the cytological diagnosis of various mediastinal and gastrointestinal lesions. Onsite cytopathology interpretation is not available in most centers. The objective of this study is to assess whether rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) by cytopathologist of the tissue samples improves the diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA. This study is a retrospective review of all 646 patients undergoing EUS-FNA between January 2009 and October 2012 in our hospital. Patients in group I had cytology slides prepared by an endoscopy nurse. Patients in group II had cytology slides prepared, stained and assessed for adequacy of tissue sampling by a cytopathologist onsite. The adequacy of the samples and the final cytopathological diagnosis (definitely positive, definitely negative, inconclusive, or inadequate) was compared between the two groups. A total of 425 EUS-FNA procedures were performed in 375 patients in group I and 271 EUS-FNA procedures in 271 patients in group II. The mean of needle passes in group I was 3.12 passes per patient and 3.24 passes in group II. The difference in the number of needle passes was not statistically significant (P = 0.30). The final diagnosis was definite in 64.8% in group I compared with 97.7 % in group II (P = 0.001). The percentage of inconclusive and inadequate diagnoses was 5.6% and 29.3%, respectively in group I and 0% and 2.3% in group II (P = 0.001). In conclusion, ROSE by cytopathologist and interpretation significantly improves the diagnostic yield of EUS-FNA.
