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

Abstract

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.

Decreased Blood Flow with Increased Metabolic Activity: A Novel Sign of Pancreatic Tumor Aggressiveness

“…Among these are angiography (4), dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) computed tomography (CT; refs. 7,8), ultrasonography (9), magnetic resonance imaging (10), and positron emission tomography (PET; ref. 11).…”

Perfusion imaging of the pancreas using an arterial spin labeling technique

“…To our knowledge, little information about perfusion measurements of the human pancreas has previously been published (5)(6)(7)(8). In these studies, pancreatic blood flow has primarily been measured laparoscopically or endoscopically by the hydrogen gas clearance methods, which are time-consuming, invasive methods causing discomfort for the patient.…”

“…Computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) perfusion measurements have been reported, especially in the diagnosis of endocrine tumors of the pancreas (7,9,10). Those methods, however, require contrast media administration and are related to substantial radiation exposure.…”

Evaluation of flow measurement from the first pass bolusT1weighted images using inversion recovery sequence

“…This was the first time that absolute values for tissue perfusion (kidney) from CT had been reported. This method is also used for measuring blood flow in a range of organs, such as the pancreas and brain, in CT [25][26][27].…”