Detection of severe acute pancreatitis by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

The aim of the study was to assess the ability of MRI to differentiate betw een the two forms of severity of acute pancreatitis (AP), which is importan t for the detection of patients who require intensive monitoring and therap y. The second objective was to evaluate whether the distinction would be po ssible regardless of the MRI equipment. Magnetic resonance imaging was perf ormed before and after intravenous administration of a gadolinium (Gd) chel ate at 1.0 T using the breath-hold multislice rapid gradient-echo turbo fas t low-angle shot (FLASH) sequence in 14 patients, and at 1.5 T with the 2D- FLASH(50) sequence with fat saturation in 18 patients with acute pancreatit is early in the course of the disease. The patients were classified accordi ng to the Atlanta classification system as having the mild (MAP) or severe (SAP) form of the disease. At 1.0 T with use of a body coil, the signal int ensities of the patients with SAP were statistically significantly lower th an those of the MAP group. Our initial clinical experience suggests that MR I with a sufficient magnetic field gradient strength may be useful for sepa rating the two forms of acute pancreatitis in their early phases.