Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology of peripheral nerve-sheath tumors

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) has allowed for the fine‐needle aspiration and diagnosis of many different gastrointestinal neoplasms, including mesenchymal tumors. Although most mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract are gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), other mesenchymal tumors, including neural tumors, do occur. Proper diagnosis and differentiation of these tumors from GISTs are important because of their different prognoses and treatment regimens. We encountered three peripheral nerve‐sheath tumors of the gastrointestinal tract aspirated by EUS (two schwannomas and a granular‐cell tumor). We report on the endoscopic ultrasound, cytologic, histologic, and immunohistochemical findings of these cases. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2004;30:172–177. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.