Endoscopic ultrasound-guided sampling of solid pancreatic masses: 22-gauge aspiration versus 25-gauge biopsy needles

Table 5 Sample quality results for liquid-based preparation^a

	22-gauge FNA (n = 38)	25-gauge FNB (n = 38)	P value
Amount of cellular material	0.92 ± 0.78	1.32 ± 0.78	0.030
Retention of appropriate architecture	0.97 ± 0.75	1.42 ± 0.72	0.010
Degree of cellular degeneration	1.37 ± 0.75	1.61 ± 0.60	0.132
Degree of cellular trauma	1.26 ± 0.72	1.47 ± 0.60	0.173
Background blood or clot	1.11 ± 0.69	1.24 ± 0.71	0.416
Total score	5.63 ± 3.32	7.05 ± 3.00	0.054

FNA fine needle aspiration, FNB fine needle biopsy
Continuous variables are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation
^a The scoring system reported by Mair et al. [19] was used for the assessment of sample quality

ISSN: 1471-230X