title: Esophageal endoscopic ultrasound fine-needle aspiration as a diagnostic tool.
abstract: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (EUS-FNA) may be employed for procurement of a tissue diagnosis in a minimally invasive fashion. In many cases, EUS-FNA excludes the need for more invasive diagnostic procedures when a tissue diagnosis is required. In patients with esophageal neoplasms, EUS-FNA is a safe and accurate tool for the preoperative diagnosis of metastatic spread to the paraesophageal and celiac lymph nodes. EUS-FNA is also increasingly recognized as an accurate, cost-effective and safe means of evaluating and staging patients with lung cancer. EUS-FNA is useful in providing tissue confirmation of cancer in cases in which bronchoscopy or computed tomography-guided approaches has been non-diagnostic. EUS-guided therapies are paving the way for therapeutic/interventional EUS. The interventional endoscopist will now play a more central role in the diagnosis and treatment of various gastrointestinal malignancies by delivering antitumor agents.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Ali A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Siddiqui
authors.forename: Mohamad A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Eloubeidi