BREATH-HOLD MR CHOLANGIOPANCREATOGRAPHY WITH A LONG-ECHO-TRAIN FAST SPIN-ECHO SEQUENCE AND A SURFACE COIL IN CHRONIC-PANCREATITIS

PURPOSE: To assess heavily T2-weighted breath-hold magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) for imaging the pancreatic duct in pat ients with chronic pancreatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-nine pa tients with chronic pancreatitis were examined with a breath-hold fast spin-echo (FSE) sequence employing an echo train length of 32 and wit h a surface coil. Results were compared with those of endoscopic retro grade cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). RESULTS: MRCP showed the head, body, and tail of the pancreatic duct well in 79%, 64%, and 53% of cas es, respectively. Agreement between MRCP and ERCP was 83%-92% in cases of ductal dilatation, 70%-92% in cases of ductal narrowing, and 92%-1 00% in eases of filling defects. Interobserver variation was low (kapp a > 0.5) for most findings. CONCLUSION: Breath-hold MRCP with an FSE t echnique depicts the pancreatic duct well in patients with chronic pan creatitis and demonstrates narrowing, dilatation, and filling defects with moderate to high accuracy.