Ultrasonically guided percutaneous aspiration biopsy of the pancreas.

One hundred and twenty-six patients had fine needle aspiration of the pancreas under ultrasonic guidance. The aspirates of 66 patients contained malignant cells. Two of 38 patients who had negative cytology subsequently were diagnosed at laparotomy as having carcinoma of the pancreas. The results of this study show that the sensitivity of the cytologic method was 97%, and the specificity and predictive value were 100%.