Appraisal of needle-based confocal laser endomicroscopy in the diagnosis of pancreatic cysts

Table 4 Proposed criteria for diagnosis of pancreatic cystic lesions and correlative histology

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (Figure 1A)
Finger like projections	Central fibrovascular core and overlying epithelium viewed in parallel
Dark rings	Central fibrovascular core and overlying epithelium viewed in transection
Parallel thick bands	Alternating papillae with central fibrovascular core and overlying epithelium
Absence of “superficial vascular network”
Absence of “bright, floating, heterogeneous particles”
Serous cystadenoma (Figure 1B)
“Superficial vascular network”	Dense and tortuous appearing network of multiple blood vessels under cuboidal epithelium. Observed in both macrocystic and septa separating microcysts
Multiple blood vessels
Absence of finger like projections
Pseudocyst1 (Figure 1C)
Clusters of bright, floating, heterogeneous particles
Absence of finger like projections
Mucinous cystadenoma1 (Figure 1D)
Solitary epithelial bands	Epithelium (columnar, tall cells) lining the cysts
Large caliber blood vessels
Clusters of bright particles	Epithelial cells and inflammatory elements

¹Needs validation.