A retrospective histological comparison of EUS-guided fine-needle biopsy using a novel franseen needle and a conventional end-cut type needle

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recently, a 22G Franseen needle for EUS-guided fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) with three novel symmetric heels has been developed to adequately obtain a core tissue. METHODS: All 38 consecutive patients with pancreatic masses who underwent EUS-FNB using a Franseen needle were investigated retrospectively to assess the efficacy and safety of EUS-FNB using the Franseen needle. Then, the EUS-FNB outcomes and histological assessments of the tissue obtained by EUS-FNB using the Franseen needle and EUS-FNA using the conventional end-cut type needle for each of the 30 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cases were compared. RESULTS: An accurate histological diagnosis of the Franseen needle was achieved with a mean of 2 passes in 97.4% of patients. Although the accurate histological diagnosis rate of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma was not significantly different (96.7% vs. 93.3%, P = 0.55), the mean number of passes in the Franseen needle was significantly less than that in the conventional needle (2.1 ± 0.4 vs. 3.2 ± 0.8, P < 0.001). The presence of desmoplastic fibrosis with neoplastic cellular elements and venous invasion were significantly higher (96.7% vs. 40.0%, P < 0.001 and 23.3% vs. 0%, P < 0.01, respectively) and the amount of obtained tissue was significantly larger with the Franseen needle (2.13 mm(2) vs. 0.45 mm(2), P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: EUS-FNB using the Franseen needle enables the acquisition of a larger amount of tissue sample and achieves an accurate histological diagnosis with a smaller number of passes than the conventional end-cut type needle.