ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: EUS-guided fine-needle biopsy has become the standard for tissue sampling. A new 20G ProCore™ (PC) needle has been developed to overcome the limitations of tissue acquisition of the smaller needles (22G, 25G) and the rigidity of the larger one (19G). The aim of this study is to assess the performance of the 20G PC needle. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who underwent EUS-guided tissue acquisition with the 20G PC needle of pancreatic and extra-pancreatic mass lesions were retrospectively identified at three Italian centers (Bologna, Fermo, and Palermo). Diagnostic adequacy, accuracy, and tissue core acquisition were the outcome measures. All the cases were performed without rapid on-site evaluation. RESULTS: A total of 384 patients with pancreatic (62.2%) and extra-pancreatic lesions were included in the study. For pancreatic lesions, adequacy, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 92.4%, 91.5%, 90.8%, and 100%, respectively, with a number needed to misdiagnose (NNM) of 11.8. The tissue core was obtained in 72% of cases. Transduodenal approach was performed in 150 pancreatic lesions; adequacy, accuracy, and tissue core acquisition were 88.7%, 90%, and 66%, respectively (NNM 10). For extrapancreatic lesions, adequacy, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and tissue core sampling were 95.3%, 95.3%, 92.6%, 100%, and 84.5% (NNM 21.3). CONCLUSIONS: The 20G PC needle showed high diagnostic adequacy and accuracy, regardless the access route.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) improves the adequacy and accuracy of EUS-guided tissue acquisition, although it is not routinely widely available. Evidence suggested that core needles might overcome the absence of ROSE. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of ROSE on the adequacy and accuracy of EUS-guided tissue acquisition with core needles in patients with pancreatic solid lesions. METHODS: Patients who underwent EUS-guided tissue acquisition of pancreatic mass lesions were retrospectively identified at three tertiary referral centers and those performed with the core needle were included. Adequacy, defined as the rate of cases in which a tissue specimen for proper examination was achieved, with and without ROSE was the primary outcome measure. The diagnostic accuracy and tissue core acquisition were the secondary outcome measures. RESULTS: A total of 333 patients with pancreatic solid mass lesions were included in the study; 140 cases sampled with ROSE and 193 cases without ROSE. The adequacy was 92.1 % in the group sampled with ROSE and 88.1 % in the group without ROSE (p = 0.227). In the ROSE group sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 90.7, 100 and 92.1 %, respectively. In the group without ROSE, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 87.2, 100, and 88.1 %, respectively. No difference for all these figures was observed between the two groups. The tissue core was available in 61.4 and 53.4 % of cases with and without ROSE, respectively (p = 0.143). CONCLUSION: In the absence of ROSE, EUS-based tissue acquisition with Core needle should be considered since it achieves comparable tissue sampling adequacy and accuracy.
