Clinical course of gastrointestinal stromal tumor diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration

Background and Aim Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are the most common mesenchymal tumor of the gastrointestinal tract. However, little is known about the clinical presentation of GIST, especially small lesions. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the efficacy of endoscopic ultrasound‐guided fine‐needle aspiration (EUS‐FNA) for the diagnosis of GIST and to determine its clinical course. Methods Pathological and clinical records of GIST extracted from our institutional database between 1996 and 2012 were reviewed. All GIST cases were diagnosed pathologically by surgical specimen or EUS‐FNA. To examine the efficacy of EUS‐FNA for the diagnosis of GIST, the pathological findings of EUS‐FNA were compared with the surgical findings from resected cases. Next, to clarify the clinical presentation of GIST, imaging findings and changes in tumor size over time were evaluated in follow up. Results Of 84 cases of GIST, 67 were resected surgically after EUS‐FNA; tumor size was