Contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasonography in pancreatic diseases: a preliminary study.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to clarify the usefulness of contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasonography in pancreatic diseases.


METHODS
The subjects comprised 37 patients with pancreatic diseases: 11 with ductal cell carcinoma, 10 with mucin-producing tumor, five with pseudo-cyst, four with islet cell tumor, four with chronic pancreatitis, and three with serous cystadenoma. After endoscopic ultrasonography, Albunex (0.22 ml/kg) was injected intravenously at a rate of 1 ml/s into the right median vein, and observation was continued for 10 min. The presence or absence of enhancement of the lesion was determined in each disease. Because all the patients with ductal cell carcinoma, islet cell tumor, chronic pancreatitis, and serous cystadenoma, as well as five with mucin-producing tumor and three with pseudo-cyst, underwent angiography, vascularity was compared between angiographic images and those of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography.


RESULTS
Enhancement of the lesion was observed in all patients with islet cell tumor and serous cystadenoma, in eight with mucin-producing tumor, and in three with chronic pancreatitis. However, no enhancement effect was observed in the patients with ductal cell carcinoma and those with pseudo-cyst. Comparison between the images of contrast-enhanced endoscopic ultrasonography and angiographic images showed three patients in whom angiograms were hypovascular, but enhancement effect was observed on ultrasonographic images.


CONCLUSIONS
The combined evaluation of plain and enhanced images of endoscopic ultrasonography may be useful for the diagnosis of pancreatic diseases.
Hirooka
Y
Y
Second Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
Goto
H
H
Ito
A
A
Hayakawa
S
S
Watanabe
Y
Y
Ishiguro
Y
Y
Kojima
S
S
Hayakawa
T
T
Naitoh
Y
Y
D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D007516:Adenoma, Islet Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000792:Angiography; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003287:Contrast Media; D018293:Cystadenoma, Serous / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019160:Endosonography / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
D003287:Contrast Media