Measurement of human pancreatic perfusion using dynamic computed tomography with perfusion imaging

Absolute quantification of pancreatic perfusion in man has been extremely difficult to date. This paper describes a relatively simple application of dynamic computed tomography to provide perfusion imaging of the human pancreas. Values for perfusion in eight normal pancreases ranged between 1.25 and 1.66 ml min-1 ml-1 (mean: 1.52 ml min-1 ml-1). Increased perfusion values were present in a patient with an islet cell tumour (overall perfusion 2.11 ml min-1 ml-1) and a patient with Wilson's disease (3.43 ml min-1 ml-1). Pancreatic perfusion was reduced in a patient with diabetes (0.60 ml min-1 ml-1) and in a failing pancreatic transplant (0.97 ml min-1 ml-1). The combination of functional information and good spatial detail afforded by computed tomography (CT) perfusion imaging means the technique is well suited for the evaluation of the human pancreas. It is currently the only technique which allows non-invasive absolute quantification of pancreatic perfusion.