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So this is another case of a lesion which was seen

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on chest CT, which was done for another reason,

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and we are trying to characterize that lesion better.

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So on these T2 images, we see most

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of the pancreas is normal looking.

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There is no lesion found anywhere,

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pancreatic duct looks grossly okay.

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But as soon as we reach the pancreatic head,

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we see some of the area of altered intensity here.

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Kind of very ill-defined, difficult

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to perceive, but if you pay attention,

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there is an area which is ill-defined.

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Heterogeneously hyperintense to

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intermediate signal intensity.

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So once we open arterial phase and try

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to see this area, we actually find a

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hyperenhancing focus in the same area.

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And if we pay attention there, there is

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enhancing lesion inside the liver as well,

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which was also seen on T2-weighted images

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as intermediate signal intensity lesion.

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If we correlate this, these findings on high B

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value DWI, we can find a corresponding lesion in

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the liver and a lesion in the pancreatic head.

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For neuroendocrine tumor, if you have a

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doubt, diffusion-weighted images are the

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key images to find the tumors and their

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deposits, whether it is in the liver, on

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retroperitoneum, peripancreatic region,

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or anywhere else in the near the pancreatic head.

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So if you really want to find a small tiny

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deposit from neuroendocrine tumor, look for

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the diffusion-weighted images on high B value.

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You will find those there.

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So in this case, we are seeing

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this deposit in the liver.

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And deposit in the pancreatic head, which has

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corresponding imaging findings on T2 and that

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has corresponding finding on arterial phase,

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hyperenhancing lesion in the pancreatic head.

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As we go to the venous phase, we can see that

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lesion is losing signal because it is washing out.

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It is hypointense relative to the liver,

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but the primary, which was seen as hyper

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enhancing lesion is no longer visualized.

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So basically all of the neuroendocrine

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tumor are better seen on the arterial phase.

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And they are better detected with

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the help of arterial phase as

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well as diffusion-weighted images.

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And they can be easily missed on

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T2-weighted images or delayed venous phase.

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So don't rely on those two sequences.

Report

Faculty

Neeraj Lalwani, MD, FSAR, DABR

Professor and Chief of Abdominal Radiology

Montefiore Medical Center, New York

Tags

Pancreas

Neoplastic

MRI

Body

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