Resectability of pancreatic tumors: Correlation of multidetector CT with surgical and pathologic results

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ability of multidetector CT (MDCT) in predicting resectability of pancreatic tumors. Patients and methods Thirty-nine patients were included in this study, there were 29 males and 10 females, and their age range was 44–73 years with a mean age of 58.3 years. All the patients were subjected to contrast enhanced biphasic examinations on 64-slice CT machine. Results Twenty-one patients (53.8%) were considered inoperable with unresected tumor, the remaining 18 patients (46.2%) were considered suitable for tumor resection according to MDCT criteria. 15 out of the 18 patients (83.3) had a successful tumor resection while the remaining 3 (16.7%) showed unresectable tumor during operation. On the basis of pathology results 12 patients out of the 18 (66.7%) had successful surgery with negative tumor margin, and a positive predictive value of 66.7% and accuracy of 66.7%. Conclusions There is better prediction of resectability of pancreatic tumors with the development of MDCT technology. As compared to Helical computed tomography (HCT) studies, there is a rise in the rate of successful surgical resection. The positive predictive value of multidetector computed tomography for resectable pancreatic tumors is decreased when pathologic results are used as a reference standard.