Correlation between magnetic resonance imaging and histopathology in differentiation of pancreatic diseases

In the last four decades, the incidence of pancreatic cancer has tripled in Western countries. More than 90% of all pancreatic cancers are detected in the advanced stage of the disease when surgical treatment is no longer possible and survival after initial diagnosis is usually very short. The aim of this study was to correlate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) established diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, benign lesion and malignant neoplasm with final histopathology. The study included 29 patients in whom the nature of pancreatic pathology could not be determined clinically and by other imaging modalities including abdominal ultrasonography, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and multislice computed tomography. MRI examination was performed and radiological report was compared with histopathology assessment of the pancreatic lesion detected. The data obtained indicated systematic conformity between radiological and histopathology findings, confirmed high diagnostic accuracy of MRI for selected pancreatic pathology, and demonstrated the role of MRI as a problem solving diagnostic imaging modality in undetermined pancreatic changes.