Insulinoma detection on low-dose pancreatic CT perfusion: comparing with conventional contrast-enhanced CT and MRI

To evaluate the efficacy of low-dose pancreatic CT perfusion (pCTP) in detecting insulinomas in patients with recurrent hypoglycemia, and to compare its diagnostic performance with conventional contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) and MRI.

This study retrospectively collected 53 patients with recurrent hypoglycemia (28 with insulinomas; 25 without insulinomas). PCTP image analysis was conducted by two radiologists. Quantitative perfusion parameters of insulinomas vs. tumor-free pancreatic parenchyma were analyzed. For cases where both pCTP and CECT/MRI were performed, six radiologists blinded to the patients' diagnosis independently evaluated the pCTP and CECT/MRI to determine the presence and location of insulinoma. The diagnostic performance of insulinoma detection between pCTP and CECT/MRI was compared.

For patients who underwent both CECT and pCTP, the sensitivity (CECT 0.167-0.333 vs. pCTP 0.667-1.000) of tumor detection was higher for five of six radiologists on pCTP than on CECT. For patients who underwent both MRI and pCTP, four radiologists showed higher sensitivity (MRI 0.400-600 vs. pCTP 0.700-0.800) of tumor detection on pCTP than on MRI, while two radiologists showed slightly lower sensitivity (MRI 0.800, 1.000 vs. pCTP 0.700, 0.900) on pCTP. Among perfusion parameters, peak enhancement, blood flow, and mean transit time exhibited higher AUC than blood volume and time to peak.

PCTP demonstrated superior diagnostic performance in insulinoma detection among less-experienced radiologists compared to CECT and MRI, while more-experienced radiologists achieved marginally better results with MRI. These findings suggest pCTP's potential as a complementary imaging modality, particularly beneficial for junior radiologists in insulinoma detection.

Pancreatic CT perfusion exhibited promising diagnostic performance in insulinoma detection, particularly among junior radiologists, demonstrating the potential to complement conventional imaging modalities and serve as a valuable clinical tool for the detection and localization of insulinoma.

Accurate preoperative identification and localization of insulinomas is important for appropriate treatment. Peak enhancement, blood flow, and mean transit time outperformed blood volume and time to peak in insulinoma detection. Pancreatic CT perfusion has the potential to complement conventional imaging modalities for insulinoma detection.