title: Hepatic abnormal perfusion visible by magnetic resonance imaging in acute pancreatitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the prevalence and patterns of hepatic abnormal perfusion (HAP) visible by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in acute pancreatitis (AP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Enhanced abdominal MRI was performed on 51 patients with AP. These patients were divided into two groups according to the MRI results: those with signs of gallstones, cholecystitis, common bile duct (CBD) stones or dilatation of the CBD on MRI and those without. The prevalence, shape and distribution of HAP in the two groups were analyzed and compared. The severity of AP was graded using the MR severity index (MRSI). The correlation between the MRSI and HAP was then analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 51 patients with AP, 32 (63%) showed at least one sign of gallbladder and CBD abnormalities on the MR images, while 19 (37%) showed no sign of gallbladder or CBD abnormalities. Nineteen patients (37%) had HAP visible in the enhanced images, including strip-, wedge- or patch-shaped HAP distributed in the hepatic tissue adjacent to the gallbladder and left and right liver lobes. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of HAP (χ (2) = 0.305, P = 0.581 > 0.05) or HAP distribution in the liver (χ (2) = 2.181, P = 0.536 > 0.05) between patients with and without gallbladder and CBD abnormalities. There were no significant differences in the MRSI score between patients with and without HAP (t = 0.559, P = 0.552 > 0.05). HAP was not correlated with the MRSI score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HAP is common in patients with AP and appears strip-, patch- or wedge-shaped on MRI. HAP on MRI cannot be used to indicate the severity of AP.
authors.affiliation: Wei Tang, Xiao-Ming Zhang, Zhao-Hua Zhai, Nan-Lin Zeng, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Image, Radiology Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Wei Tang, Xiao-Ming Zhang, Zhao-Hua Zhai, Nan-Lin Zeng, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Image, Radiology Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Wei Tang, Xiao-Ming Zhang, Zhao-Hua Zhai, Nan-Lin Zeng, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Image, Radiology Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhao-Hua
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.affiliation: Wei Tang, Xiao-Ming Zhang, Zhao-Hua Zhai, Nan-Lin Zeng, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Image, Radiology Department, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Nan-Lin
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Zeng
keywords: Gallbladder; Hepatic abnormal perfusion; Magnetic resonance imaging; Pancreatitis