[Ultrasound-guided biopsy of the pancreas: a multicenter study].

OBJECTIVE: Members of "Asociación de Ecografía Digestiva" decided to carry out a multicenter retrospective study on fine-needle aspiration biopsy for pancreatic space-occupying lesions under ultrasonographic guidance and via the percutaneous route in order to assess this technique s performance versus endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsy.

SUBJECTS: 10 hospitals for a total of 222 patients with suspiciously malignant, 8-120-mm pancreatic lesions were included in the study.

RESULTS: The analysis of results shows a sensitivity of 89%, a specificity of 98%, a positive predictive value of 99%, and a negative predictive value of 74%, for an overall diagnostic accuracy of 91%. No major complications occurred.

CONCLUSION: Percutaneous fine-needle aspiration for pancreatic lesions is highly cost-effective and has few and mild complications.