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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
Assessing the Secretory Capacity of Pancreatic Acinar Cells
Published on: August 28, 2014
Does secretin-stimulated MRCP predict exocrine pancreatic insufficiency?: A comparison with noninvasive exocrine
Arne R J Schneider1, Renate Hammerstingl, Matthias Heller
1Medical Department I-ZAFES, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Germany. arne.schneider@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Background:
Data on magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography with secretin stimulation (S-MRCP) for the assessment of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) are limited. We compared pancreatic function tests with the findings of S-MRCP in patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP) and disease controls.
Methods:
S-MRCP was performed in 23 patients (18 CP, 5 disease controls). MRCP images were analyzed for secretin-induced duodenal liquid filling (0=no filling; 1=duodenal bulb; 2=up to lower flexure; 3=beyond lower flexure). EPI was evaluated by fecal elastase, fecal fat concentration, and a 13C mixed chain triglyceride breath test. Clinically relevant EPI was stated if 2 of 3 tests were pathologic.
Results:
EPI was diagnosed in 10 of 18 patients with CP. Patients without EPI showed either grade 2 (n=4) or grade 3 (n=9) duodenal filling, whereas only 1/10 patients with EPI showed grade 3 duodenal filling. Sensitivity and specificity of S-MRCP for the diagnosis of EPI were 69% and 90%, respectively.
Conclusions:
Assessment of duodenal filling should be performed in patients who undergo S-MRCP for the evaluation of pancreatic morphology. However, minor degrees of duodenal filling are equivocal and require further diagnostic evaluation.
