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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. Oct 25, 2015; 7(15): 1157-1169
Published online Oct 25, 2015. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v7.i15.1157
Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration for the diagnosis of pancreatic cysts by combined cytopathology and cystic content analysis
Amanda K Martin, Zhongren Zhou
Amanda K Martin, Zhongren Zhou, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University Rochester, Rochester, NY 14642, United States
Author contributions: Both authors contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Zhongren Zhou, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University Rochester, 610 Elmwood Ave, Box 626, Rochester, NY 14642, United States. david_zhou@urmc.rochester.edu
Telephone: +1-585-2751699 Fax: +1-585-2762832
Received: April 30, 2015
Peer-review started: May 13, 2015
First decision: July 10, 2015
Revised: August 24, 2015
Accepted: September 7, 2015
Article in press: September 8, 2015
Published online: October 25, 2015
Processing time: 174 Days and 20.3 Hours
Abstract

Recent advances in imaging technology have resulted in an increase in incidental discoveries of pancreatic cystic lesions. Pancreatic cysts comprise a wide variety of lesions and include non-neoplastic cysts and neoplastic cysts. Because some pancreatic cysts have more of a malignant potential than others, it is absolutely essential that an accurate diagnosis is rendered so that effective care can be given to each patient. In many centers, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) has emerged as the modality of choice that enables one to distinguish between mucinous and non-mucinous lesion, diagnose malignancy and collect cyst fluid for further diagnostic studies, such as pancreatic enzyme levels, molecular analysis and other tumor biomarkers. The current review will focus on EUS-guided FNA and the cytological diagnosis for pancreatic cysts.

Keywords: Pancreatic cyst; Endoscopic ultrasound; Fine needle aspiration; Diagnosis; Cystic fluid analysis; Cytology

Core tip: Pancreatic cysts comprise non-neoplastic cysts and neoplastic cysts. It is absolutely essential that an accurate diagnosis is rendered so that effective care can be given to each patient. In many centers, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) has emerged as the modality of choice that enables one to distinguish between mucinous and non-mucinous lesion, diagnose malignancy and collect cyst fluid for further diagnostic studies, such as pancreatic enzyme levels, molecular analysis, and other tumor biomarkers. The current review will focus on EUS-guided FNA and the cytological diagnosis and new classification for pancreatic cysts.