Endoscopic ultrasound-guided needle-based confocal laser endomicroscopy in solid pancreatic masses

摘要

Background and study aims: The differential diagnosis of solid pancreatic masses by endoscopic ultrasound -guided fine-needle aspiration (EUSFNA) is currently suboptimal in centers that are not equipped with rapid on-site evaluation. Needle -based confocal laser endomicroscopy (nCLE) enables real-time in vivo microscopic imaging during endoscopy. This study aimed to describe nCLE interpretation criteria for the characterization of pancreatic masses, with histopathological correlation, and to perform the first validation of these criteria.