Keywords:
Abdomen, Pancreas, MR, Diagnostic procedure, MR-Cholangiography
Authors:
M. L. Monti, G. A. Zamboni, L. Bertuzzo, R. Pozzi-Mucelli; Verona/IT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2018/C-2727
Aims and objectives
Pancreas divisum (PD) is the most common congenital anomaly of the pancreatic ductal system (1).
It results from a failure of the two pancreatic buds,
the ventral and the dorsal buds,
to fuse during the seventh week of gestation (2).
The clinical significance of pancreas divisum is still controversial.
It occurs in 4-10% of the general population.
Most people with pancreas divisum are asymptomatic (3) and PD is detected incidentally on imaging.
Several studies,
however,
have shown a higher frequency of chronic abdominal pain,
recurrent acute pancreatitis or chronic pancreatitis in patients with pancreas divisum (4,5).
Our hypothesis was that patients with pancreas divisum abnormality would develop chronic pancreatitis (CP) in the dorsal pancreas earlier than in the ventral pancreas.
The aim of our study was to describe the MRI and MRCP features of chronic pancreatitis (CP) in patients with pancreas divisum (PD) and their relationship with patient age.