Pierre-Edouard Queneau, Guillaume Sauv?, Stephane Koch, Pascal Thibault, Denis Cl?au, Bruno Heyd, Georges Mantion, Pierre Carayon
Context Endoscopic ultrasonography is considered a highly accurate procedure for diagnosing small pancreatic tumors and assessing their locoregional extension.
Objective To evaluate the impact of endoscopic ultrasonography on the management of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in clinical practice.
Patients Sixty-four consecutive patients (mean age 70.5±11.9 years) hospitalized for staging or diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma were retrospectively (from January 1995 to November 1997) or prospectively studied (from December 1997 to August 1999).
Setting Group 1 consisted of 52 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma which was discovered using computerized tomography scanning and/or ultrasound. Endoscopic ultrasonography was utilized for staging purposes only in patients who were considered to be operable and the tumor to be resectable based on computerized tomography scanning criteria. Group 2 consisted of 12 patients who were diagnosed as having a pancreatic adenocarcinoma using endoscopic ultrasonography whereas computerized tomography scanning and ultrasound was negative.
Main outcome measures The impact of endoscopic ultrasonography was analyzed on the basis of the number of patients requiring endoscopic ultrasonography as a staging procedure (Group 1) and by evaluating the performance of endoscopic ultrasonography in determining resectability (Groups 1 and 2) based on the surgical and anatomopathological results.
Results Endoscopic ultrasonography was performed in 20 out of 64 patients (31.3%): 8/52 in Group 1 (15.4%) and all 12 patients of Group 2. Endoscopic ultrasonography correctly assessed an absolute contraindication to resection in 11 cases. Resection was confirmed in 8 of the 9 cases selected by endoscopic ltrasonography. The positive predictive value, negative predictive value and overall accuacy of endoscopic ultrasonography for determining
Conclusions The impact of endoscopic ultrasonography seems especially relevant for the detection of pancreatic tumors after negative computerized tomography scanning, and for the prevention of unnecessary laparotomies as complementary staging after ultrasonography and computerized tomography scanning.
