Smaller Width of the Pancreatic Duct During Secretin-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography in Pancreatic-Sufficient Cystic Fibrosis Patients.

OBJECTIVES

New tools are needed in cystic fibrosis (CF) diagnostics in pancreatic-sufficient CF (PS-CF) patients. Secretin-enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (SE-MRCP) allows for improved assessment of the width of the pancreatic duct.

METHODS

Sixteen PS-CF patients and 17 healthy volunteers underwent SE-MRCP. The width of the pancreatic duct in the head, the body, and the tail of the pancreas was measured at the baseline and 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 minutes after secretin administration.

RESULTS

The width of the pancreatic duct in the head of the pancreas did not differ between the groups at the baseline; after 10 minutes of secretin stimulation, it was smaller in PS-CF patients (median, 1.4 mm [first-third quartile, 1.3-2.0] vs 2.2 mm [1.7-2.4], P = 0.008). The area under the curve for discrimination between the 2 groups using this parameter was 0.77 (95% confidence interval, 0.60-0.93).

CONCLUSIONS

The SE-MRCP identified differences in the width of the pancreatic duct between PS-CF and healthy volunteers. Further improvements of the method are needed to augment its clinical utility.