The role of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal tract lesions

Abstract

Objective To assess the role of endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA)for diagnosis of gastrointestinal tract lesions.Methods Sixty-eight patients underwent endoscopic uhrasonagraphy and EUS-FNA between May 2007 and Dec.2008.The result of cytology and/or pathology was compared with that of surgical finding and follow-up study.Results EUS-FNA was successfully performed on 62 patients with lesiorm in oesophagus(4 eases),stomach(19 case),rectum(19 cases),liver(3 case),mediastinum(4 cases)and lymph node(13 cases),and had a successful rate of 91.18%(62/68).Among them,the lesions in 40 patients(64.52%)were cytologically confirmed.The lesions in 10 out of 22 patients(35.48%)were pathologically confirmed.Compared with the results of pathology and long-term followe-up study,the sensitivity,specificity and positive predictive value of EUSFNA in diagnosis of lesions in gastrointestinal tract was 85.48%,100.00%and 90.91%,respectively,The positive predictive value and negative predictive value was100.00%and 57.14%,respectively.Conclusion EUS-FNA is a safe,effective and accurate method for diagnosis of lesions in gastrointestinal tract,and has an important role in cytological diagnosis. Key words: Digestive diseases; Endoscopic ultrasonography; Biopsy,fine needle; Diagnosis