Role of endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration/biopsy in the evaluation of intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy due to tuberculosis

Diagnostic role of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) in abdominal lymphadenopathy of unknown etiology

Background

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is an established method for the evaluation of abdominal organ lesions. However, there are few studies on EUS-FNA for abdominal lymph node (LN) lesions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic role of EUS-FNA in isolated abdominal lymphadenopathy (LAP).

Methods

A retrospective analysis was performed on patients with isolated abdominal LAP who underwent a EUS-FNA examination. The diagnosis was made based on cytology, histology, and immunohistochemical (IHC) studies. The area under curve (AUC) value, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy were calculated.

Results

A total of 99 patients were included in this study. The final diagnoses were metastatic tumor (n = 32), lymphoma (n = 32), tuberculosis (n = 17), sarcoidosis (n = 5), castleman's disease (n = 1), and reactive LAP (n = 12). The AUC value, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of EUS-FNA in the diagnosis of malignant LAP were 0.9531, 90.6, 100, 100, 85.4, and 93.9%, respectively. For the diagnosis of lymphoma, the accuracy of EUS-FNA combined with IHC staining was 94.9%. Retroperitoneal LN enlargement is more commonly associated with lymphoma, while hepatic hilar LN enlargement predominantly suggests benign conditions or metastatic tumors. Malignant lymph nodes are more likely to be regular border, circular/quasi-circular, and fusion. Lymphomas are more likely to present with fusion and heterogeneous echogenicity than metastatic tumors.

Conclusion

EUS-FNA is a safe and effective method to diagnose isolated abdominal LAP.

Disseminated tuberculosis following invasive procedures for peripancreatic lymph node tuberculosis with portal vein obstruction: a case report

Peripancreatic tuberculous lymphadenopathy can mimic pancreatic cancer on imaging. There have only a few reports on varices from portal vein obstruction due to abdominal tuberculous lymphadenopathy. Iatrogenic disseminated tuberculosis is also rare. Herein, we present a rare case of peripancreatic tuberculous lymphadenopathy with ruptured duodenal varices due to portal vein obstruction. The patient presented to our hospital with hematemesis. Computed tomography revealed a peripancreatic mass. Duodenal varices rupture from portal vein obstruction due to pancreatic cancer were initially suspected. The patient underwent portal vein stenting for portal vein obstruction and endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration for diagnosis, which revealed granulomas indicative of tuberculosis. The patient was discharged once because fine-needle aspiration did not lead to a definitive diagnosis of tuberculosis. Subsequently, he developed disseminated tuberculosis. Peripancreatic tuberculous lymphadenopathy can cause ectopic varices with portal vein obstruction. Tuberculosis should also be included in the differential diagnosis in the case of portal vein obstruction, to facilitate early treatment and avoid unnecessary surgery. Furthermore, fine-needle aspiration or portal vein stenting for tuberculous lesions can cause disseminated tuberculosis. Since a diagnosis might not be made until after several fine-needle aspirations have been conducted, careful follow-up is necessary after the procedure for such lesions.