Ultrasonographycally-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal malignancies

Background: The use of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal tumorous lesions was investigated.

We studied the sonographic findings of symptomatic intestinal metastases and the use and safety of subsequent sonographically guided 22-gauge fine-needle aspiration.

Methods: During two -year period 45 patients (median age 65 years) with hepatic circumscript lesions identified on abdominal ultrasonography underwent ultrasonographically-guided FNAC using 22-G-needle. The sample was checked immediately by a cytopathologist for adequacy.

Results: Most of the cases (72%) were metastatic adenocarcinoma in the liver on aspiration cytology. The origin were colonic carcinoma, aspiration cytology detected malignant cells consistent with carcinoma. Three cases were carcinoid tumor metastases, in five cases benign disease was found. There were no complications of FNAC and patients complained of minimal discomfort.

Conclusion: The FNAC is a safe and accurate method of achieving a diagnosis in patients with suspected abdominal tumor.