Purpose: Early diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis (CP) remains elusive. Preliminary data suggest that MR elastography (MRE) may have diagnostic value in the identification of CP. We sought to measure pancreas stiffness by MRE in healthy children and to compare measured values to stiffness values in pediatric patients with acute recurrent pancreatitis (ARP) or CP.
Methods: Under IRB approval, 49 healthy controls volunteered to be included, and 14 patients with ARP or CP that underwent 3D MRE on a 1.5T MR scanner were included in the study. A soft passive driver was utilized and vibrated at 40 Hz. Regions of interest for measurement of pancreatic stiffness were drawn by two blinded readers and statistical analysis were performed for comparisons between the two groups.
Results: Mean age of the healthy controls was 11 ± 2.7 years and mean pancreas stiffness was 1.7 ± 0.3 (Reader 1) and 1.7 ± 0.3 (Reader 2) kPa. For patients with ARP or CP, mean age was 12.6 ± 4.4 years and mean pancreas stiffness was 0.9 ± 0.2 (Reader 1) and 1.1 ± 0.3 (Reader 2) kPa. Pancreas stiffness was significantly lower in patients with ARP and CP as compared to healthy controls (p < 0.001). Between readers, there was a strong and statistically significant agreement on measured pancreas stiffness (r = 0.81; p < 0.001). Bland-Altman difference analysis showed a mean bias of only 0.05 kPa (95% limits of agreement: - 0.49 to + 0.58) CONCLUSION: MRE of the pancreas can be performed in pediatric patients. Through this study, we have defined normal pancreas stiffness for children and have shown decreases in measured stiffness in patients with ARP or CP compared to healthy controls.
Clinical relevance: 3D MRE of the pancreas offers a novel approach for detecting pancreatic disease based on changes in tissue mechanical properties.
Keywords: 3D MRE; Children adolescents; MR elastography; MR elastography of pancreas; MRE; Magnetic resonance imaging; Pancreas; Pancreas MRE; Pancreas stiffness; Pediatric.