Breath-hold MR cholangiopancreatography with a long-echo-train fast spin-echo sequence and a surface coil in chronic pancreatitis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess heavily T2-weighted breath-hold magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) for imaging the pancreatic duct in patients with chronic pancreatitis.


METHODS
Thirty-nine patients with chronic pancreatitis were examined with a breath-hold fast spin-echo (FSE) sequence employing an echo train length of 32 and with a surface coil. Results were compared with those of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).


RESULTS
MRCP showed the head, body, and tail of the pancreatic duct well in 79%, 64%, and 53% of cases, respectively. Agreement between MRCP and ERCP was 83%-92% in cases of ductal dilatation, 70%-92% in cases of ductal narrowing, and 92%-100% in cases of filling defects. Interobserver variation was low (kappa > 0.5) for most findings.


CONCLUSIONS
Breath-hold MRCP with an FSE technique depicts the pancreatic duct well in patients with chronic pancreatitis and demonstrates narrowing, dilatation, and filling defects with moderate to high accuracy.
Takehara
Y
Y
Department of Radiology, Seirei Mikatabara General Hospital, Hamamatsu, Japan.
Ichijo
K
K
Tooyama
N
N
Kodaira
N
N
Yamamoto
H
H
Tatami
M
M
Saito
M
M
Watahiki
H
H
Takahashi
M
M
D000368:Aged; D002760:Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010179:Pancreas / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D010183:Pancreatic Ducts / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging