Echo-guided fine-needle biopsy of pancreatic masses.

Aim of this study was the evaluation of percutaneous echo-guided fine-needle biopsy in the diagnosis of focal lesions of the pancreas. In patients with masses of the pancreas 43 echo-guided fine-needle punctures have been performed. In 27 of the 30 cases of cancer, echo-guided puncture allowed aspiration of cells revealing malignancy. In the remaining three cases the histology was normal. Malignancy was not detected in the aspirate of any of the 13 cases of benign solid masses. In one of these patients we failed to obtain sufficient material for the purpose of diagnosis. The sensitivity of the method was 90%, the specificity 100%, and the diagnostic accuracy 92.8%. Positive and negative predictive values were 100 and 75%, respectively. No complications worthy of note occurred.