Abstract :Background: Solid pancreatic masses require sampling before a diagnosis can be made. Historically,
diagnostic accuracy rates vary between 78% and 95% with fine needle aspiration (FNA). The Acquire
needle (Boston Scientific) is a newly manufactured endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) fine needle biopsy
(FNB) device created to increase diagnostic yield. The aim of this study was to compare diagnostic
yield of the Acquire needle to our institution’s standard EUS sampling needles.
Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients who underwent EUS tissue acquisition (EUSTA)
for solid pancreatic masses using our 22G standard needles (n=58) and the 22G novel needle
(n=23). The primary outcome was overall diagnostic yield. The secondary outcome was diagnostic
rate based on location of the pancreatic lesion.
Results: Nineteen of the 23 (83%) pancreatic masses biopsied using the novel needle device were
diagnostic, compared with 32 of 58 (55%) biopsied using the control needles (p=0.0237). Diagnostic
rates specific to the lesions in the pancreatic head were 75% (n=12) in the Acquire group and 53%
(n=20) in the control group (p=0.1452). Diagnostic rates specific to the lesions in the pancreatic
body were 100% (n=7) in the Acquire group and 60% (n=12) in the control group (p=0.0681).
Conclusions: The Acquire is a novel EUS fine needle biopsy device that provides excellent diagnostic
accuracy, demonstrating a statistically significant increase in overall diagnostic rate when directly
compared to our institution’s standard tissue acquisition needles (ProCore and Expect). To our
knowledge, this is the first ever study to directly compare the diagnostic yield of the Acquire needle
with biopsy needles used in current standard practice.