A comparative analysis of CT and MRI in differentiating pancreatic cancer from mass pancreatitis

This paper aims to explore the practical value of CT signs combined with magnetic resonance imaging with diffusion-weighted imaging (MRI-DWI) and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma and mass-forming pancreatitis.

We carried out a retrospective analysis of the imaging data of 61 patients with pancreatic mass lesions who were diagnosed based on postoperative pathology in our hospital from May 2013 to May 2020 and analyzed the image diagnostic value of the combination of 128-slice CT and 1.5T MRI-DWI.

There were no significant differences in the pancreatic duct dilatation, the bile duct dilatation, or the peripancreatic and retroperitoneal lymph node enlargement between the patients with pancreatic carcinoma and the patients with mass-forming pancreatitis (P > 0.05). Both the incidences of lobulation signs and peripancreatic vascular invasion in the patients with pancreatic carcinoma were higher than they were in the patients with mass-forming pancreatitis, and the mass calcification, pseudocyst, and pancreatic duct stone rates, the net enhanced CT values in the arterial and pancreatic parenchyma phases, and the ADC values in pancreatic carcinoma patients were lower than they were in the patients with mass-forming pancreatitis (P < 0.05). The pancreatic duct stone and right prerenal fascial thickening rates in the patients with pancreatic carcinoma were lower than they were in the patients with mass-forming pancreatitis (P < 0.05).

CT signs combined with the MRI-DWI technique and MRCP can improve clinical pancreatic cancer diagnostic sensitivity.