EUS-FNA of the left adrenal gland is safe and useful.
BACKGROUND
There are limited data on the use of endosonography-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) to determine the nature of left adrenal lesions. We described our experience in performing EUS-FNA of left adrenal lesions.


METHODS
During a 20-week period, data on consecutive patients who underwent EUS with or without EUS-FNA were prospectively captured. Patients with a left adrenal mass and who underwent EUS-FNA formed our study population.


METHODS
EUS-FNA.


RESULTS
A total of 119 consecutive patients underwent diagnostic EUS +/- FNA, during which the left adrenal gland was routinely examined. Twelve of these patients underwent EUS as part of lung cancer staging and among these 12 lung cancer patients, 2 had left adrenal masses detected by computed tomography (CT). EUS detected left adrenal nodules in 2 other patients which were not visualised by CT. The overall prevalence of a left adrenal mass was 3.4%; in the subgroup with confirmed lung cancer, the prevalence was 33.3%. All 4 patients were male, with a mean age of 76.3 years (range, 67 to 87). The mean size of the left adrenal lesion was 30.4 mm (range, 9 to 84.8). EUS-FNA of the left adrenal lesions was performed under Doppler guidance. The mean number of needle passes was 2 (range, 1 to 4). A cellular aspirate was obtained in all patients. No procedural complications occurred. Metastatic non-small cell lung cancer was diagnosed in 2 patients, including a lesion missed on CT. For the other 2 cases, EUS-FNA revealed benign adrenal cells.


CONCLUSIONS
EUS-FNA appears safe and useful for the evaluation of left adrenal masses.
Ang
Tiing Leong
TL
Division of Gastroenterology, Changi General Hospital, Singapore.
Chua
Tju Siang
TS
Fock
Kwong Ming
KM
Tee
Augustine K H
AK
Teo
Eng Kiong
EK
Mancer
Kent
K
D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D019160:Endosonography / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012846:Singapore