New methodClinical endoscopyPreliminary experience with a new cytology brush in EUS-guided FNA
Section snippets
Patients and methods
Thirty-nine consecutive patients (23 males; mean age 62.5 ± 11.7 years) with different conditions (Table 1) were included in this study, which took place from August to December 2007. Data were retrieved from an institutional review board–approved, prospective, periodically updated, database. All patients signed an informed consent document. Patients with abnormal coagulation parameters (international normalized ratio ≥1.3 and platelet count <75,000/mm3), morbidities contraindicating EUS-FNA,
Results
With the EchoBrush, a single pass was performed irrespective of the kind of lesion; with standard needles, a single pass was performed for cysts, and a mean of 4.3 ± 2.03 (median 4, range 2-9) passes was performed for solid masses. The use of the EchoBrush was precluded in only 1 patient (included in the intention-to-treat analysis) because the target, a small cyst of 2 × 1.7 cm, located in the pancreatic isthmus, could not be properly reached by using the 19-gauge needle but was easily
Discussion
Our study indicates that the EchoBrush is an easy-to-handle and safe device. Even for solid and hard lesions such as stromal tumors, it is easily inserted into the needle and moved to and fro within the mass without complications. In particular, the risk of bleeding was not increased in our series, in contrast to the bleeding in 20% of the patients reported by Al-Haddad et al.9 This discrepancy is probably due to the exclusion, in our study, of patients taking anticoagulants or that only a
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DISCLOSURE: All authors disclosed no financial relationships relevant to this publication.