Assessment of Chronic Pancreatitis: Use of Whole Pancreas Perfusion With 256-Slice Computed Tomography.
OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare perfusion computed tomography (CTP) characteristics of the normal pancreas with those of chronic pancreatitis (CP) and to examine the possibility of evaluating pancreatic exocrine function with CTP. METHODS: Thirty-two patients (control group, n = 18; CP group, n = 14) who completed the whole pancreas CT perfusion examination with 256-slice CT were studied. Four parameters, including perfusion (PF), peak enhancement intensity (PEI), time-to-peak (TTP), and blood volume (BV), were measured and compared between the control and CP groups, and between patients with and without exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) in the CP group. Pancreatic exocrine function was determined via serum trypsinogen. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the distribution of PF, PEI, and BV in different pancreas regions, namely, the head, body, and tail (P > 0.05). PF, PEI, and BV of the CP group were significantly decreased, and TTP was significantly increased compared with the control group (P < 0.05). A significant decrease of PF, PEI, and BV and increase of TTP were observed in patients with EPI than in patients without EPI (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Perfusion CT is an appropriate imaging technique to diagnose CP and may be useful as a screening test to rule out early EPI.
From the *Department of Radiology and †Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan; and ‡Translational Research Informatics Center, Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation, Kobe, Japan.
Shunji
S
Arikawa
Masafumi
M
Uchida
Yukiko
Y
Kunou
Hayato
H
Kaida
Jun
J
Uozumi
Naofumi
N
Hayabuchi
Yoshinobu
Y
Okabe
Kenta
K
Murotani