Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration of Celiac Lymph Nodes

Objectives

Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is a well-established method of evaluating patients with gastrointestinal and pulmonary malignancies. EUS allows accurate tumor staging through the detection of local and distant lymph-node metastases, particularly in the area of the celiac axis [1] [2] [3]. Since the original reports of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) by Vilmann et al. [4] and Wiersema et al. [5], EUS-FNA of peri-intestinal lesions has become adopted as a routine method allowing cytological documentation of malignant involvement. This article outlines the principles used in evaluating the celiac axis with EUS and the methods of carrying out EUS-FNA of celiac lymph nodes, and it suggests absolute indications, relative indications, and contraindications to EUS-FNA of the celiac lymph nodes.

References

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