Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI of the pancreas: Initial results in healthy volunteers and patients with chronic pancreatitis

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging 2004-12, Vol.20 (6), p.990-997
• Main Authors: Coenegrachts, Kenneth, Van Steenbergen, Werner, De Keyzer, Frederik, Vanbeckevoort, Dirk, Bielen, Didier, Chen, Feng, Dockx, Steven, Maes, Frederik, Bosmans, Hilde
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Child; Chronic Disease; Contrast Media; contrast-enhanced MRI; Female; Gadolinium DTPA; Gd-DTPA; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Angiography; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Middle Aged; pancreas; Pancreas - anatomy & histology; Pancreas - pathology; pancreatic diseases; pancreatitis; Pancreatitis - diagnosis; pancreatitis, chronic disease
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.20212

Purpose To characterize pancreatic perfusion in volunteers and patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP) by dynamic contrast‐enhanced (DCE) MRI. Materials and Methods Pancreatic enhancement after bolus injection of Gd‐DTPA with a three‐dimensional ultrafast partial‐Fourier radiofrequency (RF) spoiled gradient‐echo (GE) acquisition was examined prospectively. An acquisition volume of the pancreatic parenchyma was obtained every 4.2 seconds during a single breath‐hold in 31 volunteers and 19 patients with CP. We calculated the wash‐in rate and a newly defined parameter, the “time‐to‐inflow deceleration” (TID). A statistical analysis of the differences between both groups was performed with the use of Student's t‐test. Results Significant differences in the TID and wash‐in rate were found for the head and body of the pancreas: the TID was 22.4 sec ± 4.4 sec and 23.5 sec ± 6.1 sec in the pancreatic head and body of the healthy volunteers, and 29.8 sec ± 8.6 sec and 29.4 sec ± 3.8 sec in patients with CP. The wash‐in rate was 96 ± 37 sec−1 and 101 ± 27 sec−1 in controls, and 62 ± 17 sec−1 and 75 ± 27 sec−1 in CP. Conclusion CP can be identified by semiquantitative changes on DCE‐MRI. Whether DCE‐MRI of the pancreas can be used to detect early CP remains to be validated. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2004;20:990–997. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.