CT perfusion aid in the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Objective:CT perfusion is a new technique of function imaging,which can outline blood perfusion change in a tissue.We aimed to explore the perfusion characteristics of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and to determine whether 64-slice spiral CT with pancreas perfusion imaging could aid in diagnosing pancreatic adenocarcinoma.Methods:49 patients with suspected pancreatic adenocarcinoma underwent pancreas perfusion examination with 64-slice CT.After dynamic enhancement scanning,routine dual-phase scanning was performed.Perfusion parameters including blood flow(BF),blood Volume(BV),peak enhancement(PE),time to peak(TTP) and permeability(P) were analyzed.Results:Total 12 patients were excluded due to technical reasons or other pancreatic diseases than adenocarcinoma.The remaining 37 patients included 13 patients with normal pancreas diagnosed by dual-phase scanning(normal pancreas group) and 24 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma(pancreatic tumor group) confirmed by histopathology.There were no significant differences between the mean BF(146.23 vs 119.37),BV(194.51 vs 173.67),PE(85.08 Vs 72.47),TTP(126.48 Vs 135.07),P values(84.86 Vs.69.11) of peripheral pancreatic tissue of pancreatic adenocarcinoma and normal pancreatic tissue(P0.05).The mean BF(55.10 Vs 146.23),BV(89.19 Vs 194.51),and PE values(42.97 vs 85.08) of the tumor tissue of pancreatic adenocarcinoma were decreased significantly compared to peripheral pancreatic tissue of pancreatic adenocarcinoma(P0.05).However,the mean TTP(131.73 Vs 126.48) and P(59.94 Vs 84.86) between pancreatic carcinoma and peripheral pancreatic tissue were not statistically significant(P0.05).Conclusion:A significant decrease of BF,BV,and PE was observed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.Perfusion imaging with 64-slice helical CT provides valuable information,which may be useful for diagnosis of pancreatic adenocracinoma.