A new diagnostic approach to pancreatic pseudocyst fine-needle puncture: three-dimensional sonography.

Background/purpose: We evaluated the usefulness of three-dimensional (3D) sonography in percutaneous fine-needle pancreatic pseudocyst puncture.

Methods: We examined 52 patients diagnosed as having pancreatic pseudocysts on the basis of clinical symptoms and two-dimensional (2D) ultrasonography findings. The decision to qualify certain patients for percutaneous fine-needle aspiration guided by ultrasonography was made on the basis of 2D and 3D scan results. Spiral computed tomography was done when the presence of connections between pseudocyst and pancreatic duct was suspected. In these cases diagnosis was confirmed in operative procedures. 3D sonography was used to monitor the tip of the needle making its way to the pancreatic pseudocyst and later inside the fluid collection.

Results: Pancreatic pseudocysts were diagnosed in all 52 cases; 48 patients underwent percutaneous fine-needle biopsies.

Conclusions: 3D presentation can better visualize irregular shapes, local thickenings, and calcification of pseudocyst walls than classical 2D ultrasound scans. The use of subtraction in 3D scans of blood vessels increases the safety in performing biopsies. We have shown that 3D sonography collects extremely useful information about the status of the pseudocyst structure, and it should become a complementary method to classical ultrasonography. This technique when used on a routine basis should help us change the inclusion criteria for guided biopsies.