Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of solid pancreatic masses with rapid on-site cytological evaluation by endosonographers without attendance of cytopathologists.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) with rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) has been reported to provide a more accurate diagnosis than EUS-FNA without such evaluation. However, even endosonographers can evaluate ROSE regarding sample adequacy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA with ROSE by endosonographers compared to ROSE by cytopathologists in patients with solid pancreatic masses. Between September 2001 and October 2005, of the 73 EUS-FNA procedures with the final diagnoses, 38 procedures after the introduction of ROSE by endosonographers (September 2001–September 2003, period 1), and 35 procedures after the introduction of ROSE by cytopathologists (October 2003–October 2005, period 2) were included. The specimens were stained with Diff-Quik stain and assessed. When the on-site assessors (endosonographers or cytopathologists) indicated that the amounts of cell samples were adequate, the procedure was stopped. Results are presented with 95% confidence limits. The average numbers of needle passes were 4.0 ± 1.6 and 3.4 ± 1.5 in periods 1 and 2, respectively ( P = 0.06). The specimen collection rates were 97.4 and 97.1% in periods 1 and 2, respectively ( P = 0.51). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy for malignancy and benign were 92.9, 100, 100, 83.3, and 94.7%, respectively, in period 1, and 93.1, 100, 100, 75.0, and 94.3%, respectively, in period 2 ( P = 0.97, P = 1.0, P = 1.0, P = 0.65, P = 0.93, respectively). No complications were seen. For accurate diagnosis, ROSE should be performed during EUS-FNA by the endosonographer, if no cytopathologist is available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]