Combining brushing cytology with simultaneous vacuum aspiration in suspicious biliopancreatic malignancies: A...

Brush cytology during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a standard approach in diagnosing biliopancreatic strictures, with yet unsatisfying sensitivity.

We brought additional simultaneous vacuum aspiration to brushing process and re-evaluate the diagnostic performance.

This multi-centered retrospective study was conducted in three tertiary centers. Consecutive patients with biliopancreatic strictures were identified. The patients were divided into two arms: the conventional arm (CA) receiving general brushing approach, and the modified arm (MA) being treated with additional vacuum aspiration when performing bushing. The 1:1 propensity-score matching was implemented to tackle the selective biases.

A total of 555 patients were identified and 200 patient pairs (193 males, 207 females, with a mean age of 68.1 ± 13.1 years.) fell into the ultimate evaluation. A final diagnosis of malignant stricture was established in 243 patients. The diagnostic yield of the MA group was substantially better than that of the CA group, whether "suspicious malignancies" were considered malignancies or not. The rates of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 46.2%, 100%, 68.0% in the MA group, and 15.3%, 98.7%, and 47.0% in the CA group respectively.

Brushing accompanied by simultaneous vacuum aspiration at ERCP improves the diagnostic yield in suspicious biliopancreatic malignancies.