CT guided percutaneous fine-needle biopsy of the pancreas

147 CT guided fine-needle biopsies of the pancreas were carried out on 141 patients (45 malignant tumours, 79 chronic pancreatitis and pancreas without lesions, respectively). In 23 pseudocysts a malignant lesion could be excluded. By analysing the remaining 124 biopsies (non-cystic targets) an overall accuracy of 79%, a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 84% in differentiating between benign and malignant lesions were obtained. By excluding 12% of biopsies with no diagnostic material, an overall accuracy of 90% might be recorded. The comparison between the number of aspirates per examination and the cytological diagnoses would indicate that a minimum of four aspirates is required for satisfactory results.