Correlation of liver and pancreas endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy in patients with a primary pancreatic lesion

BackgroundEndoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is commonly used in the evaluation of pancreas masses, and when a liver lesion is visualized, it can undergo a fine-needle aspiration (FNA). This can provide diagnostic and staging information. The purpose of the study was to correlate the findings of patients who underwent EUS FNA biopsy of a pancreas lesion and a liver lesion during the same procedure.Materials and methodsThe pathology database at Washington University Medical Center was searched for EUS FNA biopsy cases where biopsy of both the pancreas and liver were performed over a consecutive 10-year period (2003-2013). All pathology reports were reviewed, and clinical information and diagnostic results were recorded.ResultsA total of 102 cases were identified. For pancreas cases, 79.4% were malignant and for liver cases, 58.8% were malignant. In pancreas lesions categorized as suspicious for malignancy (9%), the liver biopsy provided a diagnosis of malignancy in 67% of cases. A malignant pancreatic cohort demonstrated a 62.9% liver malignancy. A malignant liver cohort corresponded to a malignant pancreas diagnosis in 86.6% of cases and a suspicious-malignant group of 98.3%.ConclusionsThe 102 cases with concomitant EUS FNA biopsy of the pancreas and liver demonstrated the ability to provide a diagnosis of pancreas malignancy and correlate regional metastatic malignancy in the liver. In patients with a pancreas mass and in the appropriate clinical setting, a liver EUS FNA biopsy has the ability to provide a diagnosis of malignancy and demonstrate a high positive predictive value of malignancy in the pancreas (98.3%).