Doppler tissue perfusion parameters in recognizing pancreatic malignant tumors

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Oncology
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Current methods for differentiating pancreatic lesions, such as histopathology and contrast-enhanced radiological imaging, have limitations including invasiveness and contrast toxicity.
• Developing noninvasive, contrast-agent-free diagnostic methods is crucial for improving pancreatic cancer detection and treatment acceleration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the diagnostic capabilities of ultrasound-based organ perfusion parameters for detecting malignant pancreatic tumors.
• To establish the reliability of dynamic tissue perfusion measurement (DTPM) in distinguishing cancerous pancreatic lesions from benign ones.

Main Methods:

• Endosonography with color flow imaging and biopsy were performed on 36 patients with focal pancreatic lesions.
• Dynamic tissue perfusion measurement (DTPM) was used to assess flow velocity (FV), resistive index, pulsatility index, and perfusion relief intensity (PR).
• Patients with absent Doppler signals in pancreatic lesions were excluded, leaving 31 participants for analysis.

Main Results:

• Significantly lower flow velocity (FV) was observed in malignant tumors compared to inflammatory lesions.
• FV below 2.382 cm/s demonstrated 92% sensitivity and 90% specificity for identifying malignant lesions via ROC analysis.
• Lower perfusion relief intensity (PR) values were found in malignant tumors, with PR25 ≤ 0.057 showing 100% sensitivity and 80% specificity for solid tumors.

Conclusions:

• Flow velocity (FV) and perfusion relief intensity (PR) derived from DTPM are dependable indicators for recognizing malignant pancreatic masses.
• Ultrasound organ perfusion parameters offer a promising noninvasive approach for pancreatic cancer diagnosis.