Computed Tomography of Pancreatic Tumors

Computed tomography (CT) has been a useful modality for the assessment of pancreatic lesions, because it can display excellent pancreatic anatomy and complex relationships between neighboring structures. CT imaging of the pancreas developed initially from outlining of the organ contour to visualize even subtle parenchymal detail [1, 2]. The later improvements came about largely because of advanced scanning technology and the administration of an intravenous bolus injection of contrast material. Good bolus technique, rapid scanning, and conventional dynamic CT scanning, have made it possible to demonstrate pancreatic parenchymal changes, pancreatic and bile duct abnormalities, vascular changes, and metastases to lymph node and liver. Recent development of helical (spiral) scanning offers many advantages over conventional dynamic CT scanning: (a) scanning during the phase of maximum vascular enhancement, with improved visualization of the splanchnic vasculature; (b) multiple thin sections through the enhancement; (c) lack of misregistration of data since a volume data set is rapidly acquired during a single breath hold (with less patient motion); and (d) capability to view these data both as axial slices and as a multiplanar (coronal and sagittal) display [3,4].