Endoscopic Ultrasound-guided Fine Needle Aspiration for Benign Liver Diseases: Single-center Experience

Abstract

Background and Aim: To report the efficacy and safety results of our initial experience with the endoscopic ultrasound-guided liver biopsy (EUS-LB). Materials and Method: Retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database in a tertiary care referral center. Consecutive patients who had EUS-LB for benign parenchymal diseases, using a 19 gauge fine needle with single-pass, three actuations, and wet suction technique between June 2022 and December 2022 were included. Patient demographics, procedure-related parameters, and the quality of specimens were investigated Results: The technical success was 100%. Of the 16 patients, four had a second procedure due to inadequate sampling. The median total sample length, the median number of pieces and the median length of the longest piece in fragmented samples, and the median number of complete portal tracts were 11mm (range, 0.2-2.5), 9.6 (range 0-20), 0.2mm (range 0.2-1.5) and 3.5 (range 0-19) respectively. None of the patients had any adverse events following the procedure. Conclusion: EUS-LB may be an alternative to other liver biopsy procedures but further studies are needed to determine the ideal needle type and technique.