Priscoline and epinephrine in selective pancreatic angiography: a comparison study using high pressure injection,...

The value of selective, high injection rate, pancreatic pharmacoangiography was assessed in 114 patients. Opacification of the pancreas was graded on a 0-4+ scale. Selective injection of gastroduodenal and small pancreatic arteries gave the best results, 3.7+. Celiac injection rating without drugs was 0.9+, with epinephrine 2.2+, and with Priscoline 2.7+. Average ratings of hepatic artery injections were 2.6+ with epinephrine and 3.0+ with Priscoline; splenic artery injections were 2.5+ and 3.5+, respectively. Although superselective injection was possible in only 50% of the cases, addition of epinephrine and Priscoline resulted in an average grading of 3.4+ (yielding a preoperative diagnostic accuracy of 94%).