OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in the differential diagnosis of solid focal lesions of pancreas (s-FLPs).

METHODSWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 56 s-FLPs examined with contrast agent combined with low mechanical indicators contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

RESULTSThe surrounding pancreas parenchyma enhancement time, lesion enhancement time, and peak enhancement time between different groups of s-FLPs had no significant differences (P > 0.05), while the beginning to peak enhancement time showed significant difference (P < 0.05). When using the enhancement speed as a diagnostic indicator to differentiate pancreatic carcinoma from tumor-like pancreatitis, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 90.5%, 71.4%, and 85.7% for pancreatic carcinoma and 75.0%, 91.7%, and 89.3% for tumor-like pancreatitis. When using the enhancement pattern as a diagnosis indicator to differentiate pancreatic carcinoma from tumor-like pancreatitis, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 85.7%, 78.6%, and 83.9% for pancreatic carcinoma and 75.0%, 100%, and 94.6% for tumor-like pancreatitis. When different indicators were combined, enhancement pattern and enhancement speed showed the best diagnostic results; however, the Youden index was not improved.

CONCLUSIONSDifferent s-FLPs show different enhancement findings on contrast-enhanced ultrasound. The enhancement pattern and enhancement speed are the most useful diagnostic indicators.

Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Pancreas ; diagnostic imaging ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Pancreatitis ; diagnostic imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

Abdominal Pain ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Back Pain ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Male ; Pancreatitis ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Radiography ; Recurrence ; Young Adult

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a unique subtype of chronic pancreatitis, which shares many clinical presentations with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). The misdiagnosis of AIP often leads to unnecessary pancreatic resection. F-FDG positron emission tomography/ computed tomography (PET/CT) could provide comprehensive information on the morphology, density, and functional metabolism of the pancreas at the same time. It has been proved to be a promising modality for noninvasive differentiation between AIP and PDA. However, there is a lack of clinical analysis of PET/CT image texture features. Difficulty still remains in differentiating AIP and PDA based on commonly used diagnostic methods. Therefore, this paper studied the differentiation of AIP and PDA based on multi-modality texture features. We utilized multiple feature extraction algorithms to extract the texture features from CT and PET images at first. Then, the Fisher criterion and sequence forward floating selection algorithm (SFFS) combined with support vector machine (SVM) was employed to select the optimal multi-modality feature subset. Finally, the SVM classifier was used to differentiate AIP from PDA. The results prove that texture analysis of lesions helps to achieve accurate differentiation of AIP and PDA.
Adenocarcinoma ; diagnostic imaging ; Algorithms ; Autoimmune Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Pancreatitis ; diagnostic imaging ; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography ; Support Vector Machine

Acute Disease ; Aged ; Amylases ; blood ; Humans ; Lipase ; blood ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Pancreatitis ; complications ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Pancreatitis, Chronic ; complications ; diagnosis ; Panniculitis ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; pathology

Pancreatic panniculitis (PP) is a necrotizing inflammation of subcutaneous fat that is a rare complication of pancreatic disease appearing in 2% to 3% of all patients. It is more common in the elderly and often affects the extremities. It presents as skin inflammation with pain and erythema nodules. We report a case of acute pancreatitis associated with PP in an old female. She was admitted for vomiting and abdominal pain for 3 days and presented with a 2-week history of erythematous subcutaneous nodules on her legs. Laboratory and ultrasonic findings revealed acute pancreatitis. High frequency ultrasound showed hypoechoic foci in subcutaneous soft tissue layer and adipose layer. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of PP. Nodules disappeared with the resolution of acute pancreatic inflammation. PP may be the first manifestation of pancreatic disease. Imaging features of this pathology are seldom described and ultrasonic diagnosis experience is worth to be accumulated.
Acute Disease ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation/complications* ; Pancreatic Diseases/diagnostic imaging* ; Pancreatitis/diagnostic imaging* ; Panniculitis/etiology* ; Ultrasonography

Autoimmune Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; immunology ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; immunology ; Pancreatitis ; diagnostic imaging ; immunology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: Patients with mass-forming pancreatitis (MFP) or pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) presented similar clinical symptoms, but required different treatment approaches and had different survival outcomes. This meta-analysis aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) in differentiating MFP from PDAC. METHODS: A literature search was performed in the PubMed, EMBASE (Ovid), Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Weipu (VIP), and WanFang databases to identify original studies published from inception to August 20, 2021. Studies reporting the diagnostic performances of CEUS and CECT for differentiating MFP from PDAC were included. The meta-analysis was performed with Stata 15.0 software. The outcomes included the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (+LR), negative likelihood ratio (-LR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves of CEUS and CECT. Meta-regression was conducted to investigate heterogeneity. Bayesian network meta-analysis was conducted to indirectly compare the overall diagnostic performance. RESULTS: Twenty-six studies with 2115 pancreatic masses were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of CEUS for MFP were 82% (95% confidence interval [CI], 73%-88%; I2  = 0.00%) and 95% (95% CI, 90%-97%; I2  = 63.44%), respectively; the overall +LR, -LR, and DOR values were 15.12 (95% CI, 7.61-30.01), 0.19 (95% CI, 0.13-0.29), and 78.91 (95% CI, 30.94-201.27), respectively; and the area under the SROC curve (AUC) was 0.90 (95% CI, 0.87-92). However, the overall sensitivity and specificity of CECT were 81% (95% CI, 75-85%; I2  = 66.37%) and 94% (95% CI, 90-96%; I2  = 74.87%); the overall +LR, -LR, and DOR values were 12.91 (95% CI, 7.86-21.20), 0.21 (95% CI, 0.16-0.27), and 62.53 (95% CI, 34.45-113.51), respectively; and, the SROC AUC was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.90-0.94). The overall diagnostic accuracy of CEUS was comparable to that of CECT for the differential diagnosis of MFP and PDAC (relative DOR 1.26, 95% CI [0.42-3.83], P  > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS CEUS and CECT have comparable diagnostic performance for differentiating MFP from PDAC, and should be considered as mutually complementary diagnostic tools for suspected focal pancreatic lesions.
Humans ; Contrast Media ; Bayes Theorem ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods* ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging* ; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal/diagnostic imaging* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Pancreatitis/diagnostic imaging* ; Ultrasonography/methods*

A 63-year-old man presented with painless jaundice, loss of appetite and significant weight loss. Cross-sectional imaging showed a diffusely enlarged pancreas, with no significant fat stranding and a hypodense rim on computed tomography, which appeared hypointense on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. There was a narrowed pancreatic duct and features of common bile duct narrowing in the region of the pancreatic head. However, there was no obvious mass seen in the pancreatic head region. These features were classical of autoimmune pancreatitis with diffuse involvement of the gland. Laboratory investigation showed abnormal liver function and the classical sign of raised immunoglobulin G class 4 antibodies. The patient showed dramatic response to high-dose steroids, with resolution of both the laboratory and imaging abnormalities within one month. We discuss the classical imaging features of Type 1 autoimmune pancreatitis, an uncommon condition that needs to be differentiated from pancreatic malignancy.
Autoimmune Diseases ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Humans ; Jaundice ; complications ; diagnosis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreas ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Pancreatitis ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo investigate CT findings and incidence rate of gastric bare area involvement (GBAI), left adrenal gland involvement (LAGI) and perirenal space involvement (PSI) in acute pancreatitis, and to also explore the value of these appearances in predicting complications and mortality of patients.

METHODSCT imaging data of 575 patients with AP diagnosed by clinic from October 2009 to April 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 339 male and 236 female patients, aging from 16 to 93 years with a mean of (51 ± 16) years. Involvement with or without gastric bare area, left adrenal gland, perirenal space were focused, and the relationship were analyzed between these CT findings and complications and mortality of patients.

RESULTSAmong 167 patients (29.0%) with GBAI, 132 had complications and 16 died. The sensitivity and specificity of GBAI for predicting complications were 45.4% and 87.7%, respectively, and 84.2%and 72.8% for predicting mortality. In all 107 patients (18.6%) with LAGI, 81 had complications and 18 died. The sensitivity and specificity of LAGI for predicting complications were 27.8% and 90.8%, respectively, and 94.7% and 84.0% for predicting mortality. Among 335 patients (58.3%) with PSI, 201 had complications and 19 died. The sensitivity and specificity of PSI for predicting complications were 69.1% and 52.8%, respectively, and 100% and 43.2% for predicting mortality. Of all patients, 210 (36.5%) owned two or more positive CT findings among GBAI, LAGI, and PSI. One hundred ninety-eight of these patients had complications and 19 died, that predicted the sensitivity and specificity for complications were 68.0% and 95.8%, respectively, and 100% and 65.6% for mortality. The risk of complications in the patients with GBAI or LAGI was increased than normal gastric bare area or left adrenal gland 5.9 or 3.8 times respectively, and the risk of death was improved 14.3 or 94.5 times respectively. The risk of complications in those patients with two or more positive findings increased by 48.3 times. By analyzing receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the combination of GBAI, LAGI, and PSI was the best way to predict the complications of AP. The area under the ROC was 0.819.

CONCLUSIONSThe CT imaging could effectively indicate the signs of GBAI, LAGI and PSI of AP. The GBAI. LAGI and PSI were related with the severity and prognosis of AP, and these findings could be clinical indicators for evaluating prognosis of AP.

Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Adrenal Glands ; diagnostic imaging ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney ; diagnostic imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatitis ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stomach ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

No abstract available.
Alcoholism/complications/*diagnosis ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst/*diagnosis/diagnostic imaging ; Pancreatitis/*diagnosis/diagnostic imaging/etiology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed