[Role of MRI in the diagnosis of endocrine tumors of the pancreas].

Eight patients affected with endocrine tumor of the pancreas were examined, within the same period of time, by MRI and CT. Results from those two examinations were similar for the detection of the primary tumor (succeeding to visualize the lesion 5 times out of 8) and the evaluation of locoregional and vascular extension. No tumor smaller than 3 cm was diagnosed by MRI. Most of cases the pancreatic tumor appeared as hypointense in T1 and hyperintense in T2 sequences. MRI was a little more efficient than CT for the detection of liver metastases. MRI seems to be an interesting method for the follow-up of those patients needing a regular and prolonged surveillance after primary tumor ablation.