Rapid on-site evaluation of endoscopic ultrasound core biopsy specimens has excellent specificity and positive predictive value for gastrointestinal lesions

Background: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with fine needle aspiration (FNA) is a safe and effective way to sample lesions in the gastrointestinal tract. Rapid on-site specimen evaluation (ROSE) improves the accuracy of EUS-FNA. While data suggests that EUS with fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) is effective, it remains unclear if ROSE is predictive of a final diagnosis when obtaining core specimens. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of ROSE in achieving a final diagnosis for EUS-FNB core specimens. Methods: We evaluated 60 consecutive patients referred for EUS guided sampling of lesions within or adjacent to the gastrointestinal tract. All patients underwent EUS-FNB to evaluate the additive value of ROSE to the diagnostic accuracy of specimens obtained using a core biopsy needle. EUS-FNA was also performed in a majority of cases. Results: EUS-FNB was feasible in all 60 cases; on-site specimen adequacy and final diagnostic accuracy was 58 % [95 % confidence intervals (CI) 45.1-71.2] and 83 % (95 % CI 71.9-91.5), respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value of ROSE for core biopsies were 65, 100, 100, and 39 %, respectively. On-site adequacy and diagnostic accuracy for EUS-FNA was 38 % (95 % CI 22.2-53.5) and 63 % (95 % CI 50.1-75.8), respectively. There were no significant complications. Conclusions: EUS-FNB is safe, feasible, and effective. ROSE of the core biopsy provides excellent PPV; however, an inadequate ROSE appears to be of limited value. Further prospective studies are needed to assess the optimal handling and onsite processing of core specimens to determine whether ROSE is beneficial for EUS-FNB.