title: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of intramural and extraintestinal mass lesions: diagnostic accuracy, complication assessment, and impact on management.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were: firstly, to determine the usefulness of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) in obtaining tissue diagnosis of intramural and extraintestinal lesions; secondly, to assess the immediate, acute, and 30-day complications in these patients; and thirdly, to assess the impact of the tissue diagnoses on patient management.
  
  
  METHODS
  All EUS-FNAs of extraintestinal mass lesions and intramural gastrointestinal tumors over a 26-month period were evaluated prospectively. The reference standards for the final diagnosis were surgery (n = 20), repeat imaging (n = 12), clinical follow-up (n = 4), or death from disease (n = 2). Four patients were lost to follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-two consecutive patients (24 men, 18 women; mean age 59.7 years) underwent EUS-FNA of extraintestinal mass lesions and intramural gastrointestinal tumors. Previous attempts at tissue diagnosis had failed in 52.4 % of the patients. The EUS-FNA cytological diagnoses included: 17 gastrointestinal stromal tumors, five esophageal cancers, five rectal cancers, one bronchogenic cyst, one foregut duplication cyst, and 13 other miscellaneous diagnoses. The mean number of passes needed to reach a diagnosis was 3.9 (+/- 2.2). The mean follow-up period was 13.1 months. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of EUS-FNA of extraintestinal and intramural tumors were 97 %, 100 %, 100 %, 90 %, and 98 %, respectively. No major complications were encountered.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EUS-FNA is a safe and accurate method that can provide a tissue diagnosis in intramural and extraintestinal mass lesions, especially when other modalities have failed. EUS-FNA significantly affects the management of patients by allowing them to be allocated to appropriate treatment and by avoiding the need for more invasive procedures to obtain tissue diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0007, USA.
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Eloubeidi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D001994:Bronchogenic Cyst / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019160:Endosonography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results