Malignant mediastinal lymphadenopathy detected by endoscopic ultrasound and guided fine needle aspiration in patients with resectable pancreaticobiliary cancer.

BACKGROUND

Resection surgery for pancreaticobiliary malignancies carries significant morbidity and mortality. Hence, preoperative assessment to exclude unresectable disease is mandatory. CT abdomen is the primary modality for staging of pancreaticobiliary cancers. However, some patients have malignant mediastinal lymphadenopathy (MML), which may be detected on endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) but not on CT scan.

METHODS

We prospectively evaluated 75 consecutive patients (median age 54 years: 44 men) with a diagnosis of resectable pancreaticobiliary cancer (carcinoma gallbladder, carcinoma pancreas, cholangiocarcinoma, or periampullary carcinoma) for the presence of MML using EUS by an experienced endosonographer. If a lymph node had one or more features suggestive of malignancy, i.e. size exceeding 1 cm, hypoechoic appearance, a round shape, and regular margins, it was subjected to EUS-FNA.

RESULTS

In seven (9.3%; 95% confidence intervals: 3.8% to 18.2%) of the 75 patients, EUS revealed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. The location of these lymph nodes was subcarinal in three, paraesophageal in two, and paratracheal in one patient; another patient had lymph nodes at two sites, i.e. the subcarinal and aortopulmonary window. In four of these seven patients, FNA documented the presence of MML. The overall rate of pathologically proven MML was 4/75 (5.3%; 95% CI [1.4% to 13%]).

CONCLUSION

EUS-FNA diagnosed MML in 5.3% of patients with pancreaticobiliary cancer. It may be useful to consider EUS assessment in patients with otherwise resectable pancreaticobiliary malignancy.