Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma presenting as submucosal lesion with repeatedly negative endoscopic biopsies

A 74-year-old male presented with dysphagia for 2 months. Computed tomography revealed irregular wall thickening of the esophagus at T3 to T5 level. He underwent gastroscopy which revealed a submucosal bulge with normal mucosa at 25 cm from incisors. Repeated biopsies were taken, all were negative for malignancy. The patient underwent endoscopic ultrasound, and fine-needle aspiration was taken which was suggestive for squamous cell carcinoma

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of an aortocaval lymph node by the transcaval approach

A 59-year-old male was diagnosed as carcinoma gallbladder around 1 year back and underwent radical cholecystectomy. He also received four cycles of chemotherapy. Now, he complained upper abdominal heaviness; positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) was done which showed PET-avid 8.5 mm sized lymph node at aortocaval region. There was no safe route, so endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) was advised. However, FNA was not possible without crossing inferior vena cava and further management depended on FNA report. The EUS-FNA was done, and cytopathological smears were consistent with metastatic adenocarcinoma. There was no complication

Impact of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration of small lymph nodes

Background: There is very limited literature on results of fine needle aspiration (FNA) of small (defined as ≤1 cm at long and short axis) lymph nodes, particularly in the setting of pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO). Methods: The study was conducted from July 2014 to December 2015 at a tertiary care center. A total of 34 endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided FNAs in 33 patients were done for lymph nodes ≤1 cm at long and short axis and these were included in the analysis. Results: The study cohort comprised 33 patients; 23 males and 10 females, mean age of 58 ± 12 years. Indication of FNA was to look for malignancy (n = 15), PUO (n = 16), unexplained weight loss (n = 1), and presence of lymphadenopathy in prospective liver donor (n = 1). The FNA was taken from mediastinal nodes (n = 20, 14 subcarinal) and abdominal (n = 14, 8 at porta). The mean size of lymph nodes was 87 ± 11 mm at large axis and 68 ± 17 mm at short axis. A total of 3 (8.8%) FNAs were nondiagnostic (inadequate material). The cytopathologic diagnosis was malignancy in 8 (23.5%), granulomatous change in 8 (23.5%), and reactive lymphadenopathy in 15 (44.1%). Thus, EUS-guided FNA of these small nodes changed the management decisions in 44% of cases (one patient had tubercular lymphadenopathy at two sites). The 22-gauge EUS FNA needle was used in majority of patients (n = 26). There was no significant difference between pathologic (malignant and granulomatous) and reactive lymph nodes regarding size at long or short axis, ratio of long and short axis, hypoechogenicity, and sharply defined borders. Conclusion: EUS-guided FNA of small lymph nodes showed pathological enlargement in 44% of cases