Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided tissue acquisition (EUS-TA) is less accurate in obtaining samples from gastrointestinal subepithelial lesions (SELs) ≤2 cm than from pancreatic cancers. The present study compared the usefulness of 22G Fork-tip and Franseen needles for EUS-TA and assessed the ability of contrast-enhanced harmonic EUS (CH-EUS) to diagnose SELs ≤2 cm. Fifty-seven patients who underwent EUS-TA for SELs ≤2 cm were evaluated. The primary endpoint was to compare the rate of acquisition of sufficient samples by these two needles. Secondary endpoints included technical success rate, adverse events, numbers of needle passes, and diagnostic ability of CH-EUS for SELs. Of the 57 included patients, 23 and 34 underwent EUS-TA with Fork-tip and Franseen needles, respectively. Technical success rates were 100% with both needles and adverse events occurred in zero (0%) and one (2.9%) patient with Fork-tip and Franseen needles, respectively. The rate of adequate sample acquisition was significantly higher using Fork-tip than Franseen needles (96% vs. 74%; p = 0.038). The hyper- or iso-vascular pattern on CH-EUS correlated significantly with a diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (p < 0.001). EUS-TA with Fork-tip needles were superior to EUS-TA with Franseen needles in acquiring sufficient samples and CH-EUS was also useful for the diagnosis of SELs ≤2 cm.
Keywords: EUS-TA; Fork-tip needle; Franseen needle; GIST; contrast-enhanced harmonic EUS; subepithelial lesions.