Background: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guided core needle biopsies (CNB) are increasingly being performed to diagnose solid pancreatic lesions. However, studies have been conflicting in terms of CNB improving diagnostic accuracy and procedural efficiency vs fine-needle aspiration (FNA), which this study aims to elucidate.Methods: Data were prospectively collected on consecutive patients with solid pancreatic or peripancreatic lesions at a single tertiary care center from November 2015 to November 2016 that underwent either FNA or CNB. Patient demographics, characteristics of lesions, diagnostic accuracy, final and follow-up pathology, use of rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE), complications, and procedure variables were obtained.Results: A total of 75 FNA and 48 CNB were performed; of these, 13 patients had both. Mean passes were lower with CNB compared to FNA (2.4 vs 2.9, P = .02). Use of ROSE was higher for FNA (97.3% vs 68.1%, P = .001). Mean procedure time was shorter with CNB (34.1 minutes vs 51.2 minutes, P = .02) and diagnostic accuracy was similar (89.2% vs 89.4%, P = .98). There was no difference in diagnostic accuracy when ROSE was performed for CNB vs not performed (93.5% vs 85.7%, P = .58).Additionally, diagnostic accuracy of combined FNA and CNB procedures was 92.3%, which was comparable to FNA (P = .73) or CNB (P = .52) alone.Conclusion: FNA and CNB had comparable safety and diagnostic accuracy. Use of CNB resulted in less number of passes and shorter procedure time as compared to FNA. Moreover, diagnostic accuracy for CNB with or without ROSE was similar.K E Y W O R D S core biopsy, endoscopic ultrasound, fine-needle aspiration, pancreatic cancer, pancreatic mass

- Although HPV non-16/18 types are less frequently associated with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer, they are nonetheless a significant cause of disease. Further stratification of higher-risk HPV non-16/18 may be necessary to improve prevention and management, however, regional prevalence differences may make a unified approach difficult. As HPV 16/18 infections decrease owing to vaccination of at-risk women, the relative frequency of HPV non-16/18 will increase, although the latest vaccine covers several more high-risk types.

Pyogenic granulomas are benign, typically painless, vascular tumors of the skin and mucosal surface. Recently the term ‘lobular capillary hemangioma’ has been introduced to describe the histological appearance more accurately. Major locations for pyogenic granuloma are in the head and neck region, but larynx localization is rare. In this case report, we present a case of a 36-year-old male with lobular capillary hemangioma of the larynx and discuss the related literature.

Objective To predict the cost-effectiveness of implementing routine gene expression classifier testing for thyroid nodules with indeterminate fine-needle aspiration cytology, by utilizing a real cohort of patients as a comparator. Study Design Cost-effectiveness analysis of a retrospective cohort compared with a simulated cohort. Setting Tertiary academic medical center. Subjects and Methods We reviewed the records of all patients who underwent ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration from 2010 to 2014 at a tertiary academic medical center. All patients with Bethesda class III or IV cytopathology had the details of their management catalogued over the subsequent 2 years of care. These patients were assigned to the standard-of-care arm of the study. We compared the third-party payer costs of care and the proportion of patients who underwent surgery with a simulated cohort who underwent gene expression classifier testing after an initial indeterminate fine-needle aspiration (molecular test arm). Results The cost of managing 1 nodule over 2 years was $2399 higher (range, $397-$4399) for the molecular test group than the standard of care group. The molecular test group had a 13.1% decrease (base parameters; range, 0.73%-45.09%) in the number of patients undergoing surgery. Conclusion When applied to a real cohort of patients, routine gene expression classifier is predicted to reduce the number of patients undergoing surgery but will increase cost of care. Cost-effectiveness is heavily dependent on prevalence of malignancy and gene expression classifier specificity.

Vulvar tumors arising from submucosal connective tissue, some of which exhibit hormonal responsiveness, have many clinical and histologic overlapping characteristics. We present a case of a fibroepithelial stromal polyp arising from the vulva of a 22-year-old female. We review the differential diagnosis with an emphasis on distinguishing features of these uncommon neoplasms. Accurate diagnosis is essential as the extent of surgical resection and risk of local recurrence varies for these tumors.