To investigate the predictors of malignancy in endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of ML in patients without known lung cancer.
One hundred eight patients without known lung cancer who underwent EUS guided-FNA for ML between 2000 and 2007. All subjects underwent EUS-guided FNA. Data was collected on patients′ demographics, and lymph node (LN) characteristics. Diagnosis of LN malignancy was based on FNA findings and clinical follow-up.
One hundred eight patients were analyzed; 58 (54%) were men and 87 (79%) were Caucasian. Mean age was 55 years. Prior malignancy was present in 48 (43%) patients. A total of 126 FNA samples from 126 distinct LNs were performed. Twenty-five (20%) LNs were positive for malignancy. Mean short and long-axis for LNs were 13 and 29 mms respectively. Round shape and sharp borders were found in 29 (15%) and 25 (22%) LNs, correspondingly. Independent predictors of a malignant FNA were: Prior cancer (OR 13.10; 95% CI 2.7-63.32; P = 0.001), short axis (OR 1.10; 95% CI 1.00-1.22; P = 0.041) and sharp LN borders (OR 5.47; 95% CI 1.01-29.51; P = 0.048). Age, race, gender, long axis, round shape were not associated with cancer in our cohort.