title: Significance of a sonographic secretin test in the diagnosis of pancreatic disease. Results of a prospective study.
abstract: In a prospective study the pancreatic duct diameter was measured sonographically before and after secretin stimulation in 20 healthy controls and 59 patients with upper abdominal pain, weight loss, and/or diarrhea. Whereas healthy controls and patients without pancreatic disease after secretin stimulation showed a distinct pancreatic duct dilatation of more than 90% of basal duct diameter, no distinct secretin-induced duct enlargement was observed in most patients with chronic pancreatitis. Patients with circumscript pancreatic duct stenosis even had a marked and longer-lasting duct dilatation after stimulation. In patients with anomalies of the pancreatic duct system, no uniform response was found after secretin injection. In this study the sonographic secretin test showed a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 95% for diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. The results confirm that this diagnostic method can be recommended as a reliable screening test for pancreatic disease.
authors.affiliation: Medical Clinic and Outpatient Clinic, University of Münster, FRG.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Glaser
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Högemann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hultsch
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: van Husen
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gerlach
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology*; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012633:Secretin; D014463:Ultrasonography; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D012633:Secretin