Staging of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using Dynamic MR Imaging

Single breath-hold gradient echo images were obtained before and immediately after bolus intravenous administration of Gd-DTPA (dynamic MR imaging) in the study of the pancreas. Of 37 patients with pathologically proved pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, seventeen patients who underwent both dynamic MR imaging studies and curative surgery were included in this study. Correlations between histologic findings in the resected specimens and MR images were analyzed as to tumor extension and staging according to the General Rules for the Study of Pancreatic Cancer (4th Edition) published by the Japan Pancreas Society. In comparison with conventional MR images, dynamic MR imaging improved the detectability of pancreatic carcinoma and delineation of the vasculature by clarifying the margin of the tumor and the vessels. Nonenhanced T1-weighted imaging is the best sequence to estimate peripancreatic tumor extension, because the contrast between the tumor and peripancreatic fat deteriorates with the use of contrast material. There is a tendency to overestimate vascular invasion on MR images, the reason for which is considered to be the contractive nature of fibrotic change induced by pancreatic carcinoma. The diagnostic efficacy of lymph node metastasis remains insufficient on MR images because some cases show no enlargement of lymph nodes in spite of the existence of pathological metastasis. Our results suggest that dynamic MR imaging has the advantage of improving the conspicuity of the tumor and the vasculature.