Understanding pancreatic development and the congenital anomalies and variants that result from alterations in normal development allows for better recognition of these anomalies at diagnostic imaging. The aim of this study is: ⇒To describe the pancreatic CT and MRI protocol ⇒To highlight the imaging features of normal pancreas, congenital anomalies and normal variants of the pancreatic duct and the pancreas

1-Embryology of pancreas: Fig. 1 The pancreas develops as two separate outgrowths from the primitive digestive tube. It develops from dorsal and ventral buds that arise from the foregut during the fifth week of embryonic development. The ventral and dorsal buds develop on opposite sides of the primordial foregut. The ventral bud forms as an outpouching of the liver diverticulum. The two pancreatic buds develop independently, each with a dominant duct draining into the duodenal lumen. The main pancreatic duct forms as the dorsal pancreas...

1/- Protocol for the exploration of pancreas: *CT-scan The scanning of the pancreas requires a well-established protocol: ⇒An acquisition without contrast injection ⇒An acquisition at pancreatic time (40 to 45 seconds after the beginning of contrast injection): a maximum enhancement of the pancreatic parenchyma ⇒An acquisition at portal time (70 seconds after the beginning of contrast injection) In case of suspicion of endocrine tumor, acquisition at arterial time is necessary Axial images, as well as, curved and multiplanar reconstructions should be used. The CPR mode...

Congenital anomalies and normal variants of the pancreatic duct and the pancreas may be clinically significant and may create a diagnostic challenge. Recognition of the updated features of these entities is important in clinical management and for avoiding misdiagnosis.

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