Transesophageal Endoscopic Ultrasound-guided Fine Needle Aspiration for the Diagnosis of a Lung Nodule that Was Non-abutting on CT

An 80-year-old man presented with a right side lung tumor. The tumor was not abutting the bronchus or chest wall; thus, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and CT-guided biopsy were considered to be technically difficult. We therefore attempted endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). Although the nodule was not abutting the esophagus on CT, an irregularly shaped hypoechoic lesion was visualized on EUS. EUS-FNA was successfully performed. The tumor was diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma. This case illustrates that transesophageal EUS-FNA may be feasible when diagnostic procedures such as EBUS- or CT-guided biopsy are considered to be technically difficult.