Doppler color flow imaging for assessment and localization of pancreatic insulinoma

Pancreas: imaging diagnosis with color/power Doppler ultrasonography, endoscopic ultrasonography, and intraductal ultrasonography

Recent advances of ultrasound imaging have made possible to depict various diseases and conditions of the pancreas. Color/power Doppler ultrasonography, endoscopic ultrasonography, and intraductal ultrasonography are feasible to show vascular abnormalities, differentiate the solid and cystic tumors, decide tumor extent, and help to perform interventional treatments of the pancreatic diseases. Those techniques will contribute to the more precise and easier diagnosis and to prompt decision of the treatments of the pancreatic disorders. Radiologists should recognize the diagnostic feasibility and limitations of those techniques in order to avoid unnecessary examinations on the patients, and obtain precise diagnostic images.

Selective intraarterial contrast-enhanced CT of pancreaticoduodenal tumors: early clinical experience in evaluating blood supply and detectability

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to compare CT with selective intraarterial contrast enhancement with IV contrast-enhanced CT for diagnostic usefulness in the detection of tumors in the pancreaticoduodenal region.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

intraarterial contrast enhanced CT was performed in 36 patients with tumors of the pancreaticoduodenal region. Feeding arteries of the tumors and distribution of hyperattenuating areas on intraarterial contrast-enhanced CT were analyzed with various routes of contrast material injections. The intraarterial contrast-enhanced CT scans were compared with the IV contrast-enhanced CT scans.

RESULTS

In all 29 patients with standard vascular anatomy, the right cephalic portion of the pancreatic head was enhanced on CT during common hepatic or gastroduodenal arteriography and the left caudal portion was enhanced on CT during superior mesenteric arteriography. The enhanced areas were complementary to each other in the whole pancreatic head, including the tumor. Tumor conspicuity from the surrounding pancreatic tissue on intraarterial contrast-enhanced CT was not superior to that on IV contrast-enhanced CT in all but four patients with cystic tumors. After intraarterial contrast-enhanced CT, three patients with tumors less invasive than pancreatic ductal carcinoma underwent local resection of their lesions.

CONCLUSION

Intraarterial contrast-enhanced CT for pancreaticoduodenal tumors has potential technical problems and is not valuable in improving the detectability of tumors other than cystic lesions because the enhancement of the wall and septa of the tumor is emphasized. However, the feeding artery of the tumor and its surrounding tissue were clearly depicted.