Magnetic resonance imaging in pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis can occur in acute and chronic forms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an important role in the early diagnosis of both conditions and complications that may arise from acute or chronic inflammation of the gland. Standard MRI techniques including T1-weighted and T2-weighted fat-suppressed imaging sequences together with contrast-enhanced imaging can both aid in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis and demonstrate complications as pseudocysts, hemorrhage, and necrosis. Combined use of MRI and MR cholangiopancreatography can show both parenchymal findings that are associated with chronic pancreatitis including pancreatic size and signal and arterial enhancements, all of which are diminished in chronic pancreatitis. The degree of main pancreatic duct dilatation and/or the number of side branch ectasia determines the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis and its severity. In this paper, we report the spectrum of imaging findings of acute and chronic pancreatitis on MRI and MR cholangiopancreatography.