Indications and outcomes of endoscopic ultrasound in Tanta-Egypt: Initial experience

Background: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is valuable in the diagnosis and staging of gastrointestinal tumors and some extra-luminal malignancies. Aim: This study aimed to describe the initial experience with EUS and fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and the indications and outcomes of patients at the Tanta University Teaching Hospital. Subjects and Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive survey study analyzing 70 EUS cases seen at Tanta University Teaching Hospital from January to December 2019. FNA was performed for 61 patients. A provisional cytopathology diagnosis was made by on-site and the final cytology/histopathology report was given after immunostaining and review of slides. Results: The major indications for EUS were pancreatic, gastric, and ampulla of Vater lesions. EUS revealed pancreatic masses in 27, cysts in 1, and chronic pancreatitis in 1 case. Gastric masses were seen in 13, polyps in 5, and varices in 3 cases. Ampulla of Vater lesions were masses in 5, common bile duct (CBD) distal end stones in 3 cases, and one case proved normal. The final diagnosis of pancreatic lesions was adenocarcinoma in 25, cyst in 1 case, mucoepidermoid tumour in 1 case, neuroendocrine tumour in 1 case and chronic pancreatitis in 1 case. Gastric lesions were gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) in 8, and adenocarcinoma in 5 cases, while 3 cases of polyps were hyperplastic, one inflammatory and one tubulovillous adenomatosis. Celiac axis block was done for 6 cases. No major complications were recorded. Conclusion: The major indications for EUS were pancreatic, gastric and ampulla of Vater lesions, while the main outcomes were pancreatic adenocarcinoma, gastric GIST, adenocarcinoma and ampullary adenocarcinoma. .