Clinical application of computed tomography perfusion imaging in pancreatic carcinoma and chronic pancreatitis

Objective To evaluate the image characteristics of multi-slices spiral computed tomography(CT) perfusion for normal and tumorous pancreas and chronic pancreatitis.Methods CT perfusion for pancreatic cancer in 16 patients and chronic pancreatitis in 12 patients were performed with 16 slices spiral CT.Thirty-two patients with no pancreatic disorders served as controls.The acquired metered data were statistically analyzed by using workstation to calculate tissue blood flow(BF),blood volume(BV),mean transit time(MTT),and vascular permeability surface(PS) values.Perfusion parameters of normal pancreas,chronic pancreatitis,tumors tissues and the pancreatic tissues near tumors were compared.Results There were remarkable difference between parameters in the CT perfusion:pancreatic cancer showed higher PS and lower BV and BF compared with those of normal pancreas and pancreatic tissues near tumors(P0.05).But there was no significant difference in baseline BF,BV,PS and MTT values between the pancreas and pancreatic tissues near tumors(P0.05).Statistical results showed no significant difference between normal pancreatic tissues and chronic pancreatitis tissues in BV,PS(P0.05).Chronic pancreatitis showed higher MTT and lower BF compared with those of normal pancreas(P0.05).Conclusion It suggests that CT perfusion imaging can be used to identify chronic pancreatitis patients with pancreatic carcinomas.