This pictorial review aims to illustrate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and presentation patterns of anatomical variations and various benign and malignant pathologies of the duodenum, including sphincter contraction, major papilla variation, prominent papilla, diverticulum, annular pancreas, duplication cysts, choledochocele, duodenal wall thickening secondary to acute pancreatitis, postbulbar stenosis, celiac disease, fistula, choledochoduodenostomy, external compression, polyps, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, ampullary carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. MRI is a useful imaging tool for demonstrating duodenal pathology and its anatomic relationships with adjacent organs, which is critical for establishing correct diagnosis and planning appropriate treatment, especially for surgery.
Ampulla of Vater/anatomy & histology/radiography ; Choledochal Cyst/pathology/radiography ; Diverticulum/radiography ; Duodenal Diseases/pathology/*radiography ; Duodenum/*anatomy & histology/radiography ; Humans ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pancreas/abnormalities/anatomy & histology/radiography ; Pancreatic Diseases/radiography

Though congenital anomalies of the pancreas and pancreatic duct are relatively uncommon and they are often discovered as an incidental finding in asymptomatic patients, some of these anomalies may lead to various clinical symptoms such as recurrent abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Recognition of these anomalies is important because these anomalies may be a surgically correctable cause of recurrent pancreatitis or the cause of gastric outlet obstruction. An awareness of these anomalies may help in surgical planning and prevent inadvertent ductal injury. The purpose of this article is to review normal pancreatic embryology, the appearance of ductal anatomic variants and developmental anomalies of the pancreas, with emphasis on magnetic resonance cholangiopancreaticography and multidetector computed tomography.
Cholangiopancreatography, Magnetic Resonance/*methods ; Humans ; Multidetector Computed Tomography/*methods ; Pancreas/abnormalities ; Pancreatic Diseases/congenital/pathology/radiography ; Pancreatic Ducts/*abnormalities

Pancreatic tuberculosis is a rare clinical entity, presenting as malignancy mimicking pancreatic mass. Therefore, it represents a diagnostic challenge. To date, ten cases have been reported in Korea. I report an additional case and review all Korean reports about pancreatic tuberculosis. A 57-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed a 2.2x1.2 cm cystic mass in pancreatic body. She was followed for nine months, at which time a cystic mass was enlarged to 3.3x2.2 cm in size on the CT. An exploratory laparotomy was performed for the accurate diagnosis and to rule out the possibility of malignant change. Pathological examination of the resected specimen revealed chronic granulomatous inflammation with caseous necrosis and multinucleated giant cells, which was compatible with tuberculosis. Among the 11 cases of pancreatic tuberculosis, five cases were combined with pulmonary tuberculosis. The pancreatic tuberculosis frequently presented with multicystic pancreatic mass (81%) and the most common anatomic locations were the head (73%), tail (18%), and body (9%). Three cases were diagnosed by using US or EUS guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), and all cases were medically cured without exploratory laparotomy. In summary, pancreatic tuberculosis, despite its rarity, should be considered for differential diagnosis of pancreatic cystic mass in endemic countries. Clinical suspicion and accurate diagnostic approach including FNAB of pancreatic tuberculosis are needed to avoid performing unnecessary laparotomy.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Diseases/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/diagnosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tuberculosis/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography

Brunnera's gland hyperplasia is a benign tumor of the duodenum and it is rarely associated with clinical symptoms. We report on a 64-yr-old man with Brunnera's gland hyperplasia who had undergone a duodenocephalo-pancreatectomy. The reason is that he presented upper gastrointestinal obstructive symptoms and the esophagogastroduodenoscopic finding revealed the lesion to be an infiltrating type mass on the second portion of the duodenum with luminal narrowing. An abdominal computed tomography showed a 2.5 cm-sized mass in the duodenal second portion with a suspicious pancreatic invasion and 7 mm-sized lymph node around the duodenum. Duodenocephalopancreatectomy was successfully performed. Histological examination revealed a Brunnera's gland hyperplasia. The final diagnosis was the coexistence of Brunnera's gland hyperplasia and pancreatic heterotopia with a pancreatic head invasion. The literature on Brunnera's gland hyperplasia is reviewed.
Brunner Glands/*pathology/radiography ; *Choristoma ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Duodenal Neoplasms/*pathology/radiography/surgery ; Duodenum/pathology/radiography ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Diseases/*pathology/radiography ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Severity of Illness Index ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the image quality (IQ) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of reduced field-of-view (FOV) di-ffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of pancreas in comparison with full FOV DWI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, 2 readers independently performed qualitative analysis of full FOV DWI (FOV, 38 × 38 cm; b-value, 0 and 500 s/mm²) and reduced FOV DWI (FOV, 28 × 8.5 cm; b-value, 0 and 400 s/mm²). Both procedures were conducted with a two-dimensional spatially selective radiofrequency excitation pulse, in 102 patients with benign or malignant pancreatic diseases (mean size, 27.5 ± 14.4 mm). The study parameters included 1) anatomic structure visualization, 2) lesion conspicuity, 3) artifacts, 4) IQ score, and 5) subjective clinical utility for confirming or excluding initially considered differential diagnosis on conventional imaging. Another reader performed quantitative ADC measurements of focal pancreatic lesions and parenchyma. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare qualitative scores and ADCs between DWI sequences. Mann Whitney U-test was used to compare ADCs between the lesions and parenchyma. RESULTS: On qualitative analysis, reduced FOV DWI showed better anatomic structure visualization (2.76 ± 0.79 at b = 0 s/mm² and 2.81 ± 0.64 at b = 400 s/mm²), lesion conspicuity (3.11 ± 0.99 at b = 0 s/mm² and 3.15 ± 0.79 at b = 400 s/mm²), IQ score (8.51 ± 2.05 at b = 0 s/mm² and 8.79 ± 1.60 at b = 400 s/mm²), and higher clinical utility (3.41 ± 0.64), as compared to full FOV DWI (anatomic structure, 2.18 ± 0.59 at b = 0 s/mm² and 2.56 ± 0.47 at b = 500 s/mm²; lesion conspicuity, 2.55 ± 1.07 at b = 0 s/mm² and 2.89 ± 0.86 at b = 500 s/mm²; IQ score, 7.13 ± 1.83 at b = 0 s/mm² and 8.17 ± 1.31 at b = 500 s/mm²; clinical utility, 3.14 ± 0.70) (p < 0.05). Artifacts were significantly improved on reduced FOV DWI (2.65 ± 0.68) at b = 0 s/mm² (full FOV DWI, 2.41 ± 0.63) (p < 0.001). On quantitative analysis, there were no significant differences between the 2 DWI sequences in ADCs of various pancreatic lesions and parenchyma (p > 0.05). ADCs of adenocarcinomas (1.061 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.133 at reduced FOV and 1.079 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.135 at full FOV) and neuroendocrine tumors (0.983 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.152 at reduced FOV and 1.004 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.153 at full FOV) were significantly lower than those of parenchyma (1.191 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.125 at reduced FOV and 1.218 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.103 at full FOV) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Reduced FOV DWI of the pancreas provides better overall IQ including better anatomic detail, lesion conspicuity and subjective clinical utility.
Adult ; Aged ; Artifacts ; Diagnosis, Differential ; *Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; *Echo-Planar Imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreas/*radiography ; Pancreatic Diseases/pathology/*radiography ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/pathology/radiography ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of applying MultiVane to liver T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) compared with conventional T2WIs with emphasis on detection of focal liver lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-eight patients (43 men and 35 women) with 86 hepatic lesions and 20 pancreatico-biliary diseases underwent MRI including T2WIs acquired using breath-hold (BH), respiratory-triggered (RT), and MultiVane technique at 3T. Two reviewers evaluated each T2WI with respect to artefacts, organ sharpness, and conspicuity of intrahepatic vessels, hilar duct, and main lesion using five-point scales, and made pairwise comparisons between T2WI sequences for these categories. Diagnostic accuracy (Az) and sensitivity for hepatic lesion detection were evaluated using alternative free-response receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: MultiVane T2WI was significantly better than BH-T2WI or RT-T2WI for organ sharpness and conspicuity of intrahepatic vessels and main lesion in both separate reviews and pairwise comparisons (p < 0.001). With regard to motion artefacts, MultiVane T2WI or BH-T2WI was better than RT-T2WI (p < 0.001). Conspicuity of hilar duct was better with BH-T2WI than with MultiVane T2WI (p = 0.030) or RT-T2WI (p < 0.001). For detection of 86 hepatic lesions, sensitivity (mean, 97.7%) of MultiVane T2WI was significantly higher than that of BH-T2WI (mean, 89.5%) (p = 0.008) or RT-T2WI (mean, 84.9%) (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Applying the MultiVane technique to T2WI of the liver is a promising approach to improving image quality that results in increased detection of focal liver lesions compared with conventional T2WI.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Artifacts ; Biliary Tract Diseases/diagnosis/radiography ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Diseases/*diagnosis/radiography ; Liver Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Diseases/diagnosis/radiography ; Retrospective Studies

Systemic amyloidosis is a disorder characterized by extracellular deposition of amyloid in various organs and tissues including the kidney, heart, and liver. However, pancreatic involvement is rare, and has not been reported in Korea. Systemic amyloisosis involving pancreas needs to be differentiated from several pancreatic diseases because of diffuse pancreatic enlargement and partial stricture or obstruction of main pancreatic duct. Recently, we experienced a 60-year old man who was suspected as autoimmune pancreatitis or infiltrative disorders on imaging studies, and finally diagnosed as systemic amyloidosis involving pancreas and liver on biopsy examination. We report the case with review of the relevant literatures.
Amyloidosis/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; Autoimmune Diseases/diagnosis ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Diseases/*diagnosis ; Pancreatitis/diagnosis/immunology/pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Percutaneous access to the surgical bed after pancreaticoduodenectomy can be a challenge, due to the post-operative anatomy alteration. However, immediate complications, such as surgical bed abscess or suspected tumor recurrence, are often best accessed percutaneously, as open surgical or endoscopic approaches are often difficult, if not impossible. We, hereby, describe a safe approach that is highly replicable, in accessing the surgical bed for percutaneous intervention, following pancreaticoduodenectomy.
Abscess/radiography/therapy ; Bile Duct Neoplasms/pathology/radiography ; Biopsy/methods ; Catheterization/*methods ; Cholangiocarcinoma/pathology/radiography ; Drainage/instrumentation/*methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/pathology/radiography ; Pancreatic Diseases/radiography/therapy ; *Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Postoperative Complications/radiography/*therapy ; Radiography, Interventional/methods ; Retroperitoneal Space

We report here on a case of primary extraskeletal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma that arose from the pancreas. A 41-year-old man was evaluated by CT to find the cause of his abdominal pain. The CT scans showed a heterogeneously enhancing necrotic mass with numerous areas of coarse calcification, and this was located in the left side of the retroperitoneal space and involved the body and tail of the pancreas. Portal venography via the celiac axis also showed invasion of the splenic vein. Following excision of the mass, it was pathologically confirmed to be primary extraskeletal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma that arose from the pancreas.
Abdominal Pain/etiology ; Adult ; Chondrosarcoma, Mesenchymal/complications/*diagnosis/surgery ; Contrast Media/administration & dosage ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Iohexol/analogs & derivatives/diagnostic use ; Male ; Necrosis ; Pancreas/pathology/radiography ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/complications/*diagnosis/surgery ; Portal Vein/radiography ; Radiographic Image Enhancement/methods ; Rare Diseases ; Retroperitoneal Space/radiography ; Splenic Vein/radiography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods