[Percutaneous needle biopsy in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer]

The data on two procedures of ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy of pancreatic masses in 81 patients are presented (1999-2001): for cutting biopsy--64, and aspiration--and 17. Pancreatic cancer was identified in 41, non-epithelial tumor--3, metastasis to pancreas--2 and indurative pancreatitis--21. Complication were rare: hematoma formation after interstitial biopsy--1 (1.6%) and subcutaneous seeding--1 (5.9%) after aspiration biopsy. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for cutting biopsy were 96.7, 100 and 96.9%, respectively: aspiration--90.9, 90.9 and 88.3%, respectively. Ultrasound-guided transabdominal fine-needle biopsy of pancreas is a low-invasive and effective method of diagnostic verification. The cutting procedure was more effective than aspiration biopsy: also, it helped identify histological pattern of tumor and grade of malignancy. Patients with chronic indurative pancreatitis are to be followed up even when primary fine-needle biopsy results are negative.