The value of gadoxetic acid-enhanced and diffusion-weighted MRI for prediction of grading of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors

Abstract

Background: Parenchyma-preserving resection for the treatment of benign pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) has been tried, and preoperative prediction of benign pancreatic NET is important. Recently, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of abdomen magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used to characterize benign and malignant tumors and DWI might be helpful in prediction of benign pancreatic NETs. Purpose: To evaluate the value of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI and DWI in predicting benign pancreatic NETs for determination of parenchyma-preserving resection. Material and Methods: Our ethics committee approved this study with a waiver of informed consent given its retrospective design. We searched radiology and pathology databases from November 2010 to July 2012 to identify patients who underwent surgery for pancreatic NETs (−3 mm²/sec, 1.11 ± 0.25, each) and non-benign pancreatic NETs (mean, 1.04 × 10⁻³mm²/sec, 0.74 ± 0.13, each) ( P < 0.01). Other qualitative and quantitative analyses between benign and non-benign pancreatic NETs were not significantly different ( P > 0.05). Conclusion: Abdominal MRI with DWI may be useful for differentiating benign pancreatic NETs from non-benign pancreatic NETs, which might be helpful for determination of parenchyma-preserving resection.