Cystic fibrosis: MR imaging of the pancreas.

The appearance of the pancreas in 17 adult patients with cystic fibrosis was evaluated with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The pancreas was abnormal in 15 patients. Three patterns were observed: (a) lobulated enlarged pancreas with complete replacement by fatty tissue (n = 9), (b) small atrophic pancreas with partial replacement by fat tissue (n = 5), and (c) diffuse atrophy of the pancreas without fatty replacement (n = 1). Replacement of the pancreas by fat tissue was seen on T1-weighted images with, characteristically, a very high signal intensity. The sensitivity of MR imaging in depicting pancreatic abnormality in cystic fibrosis is 94%, which is comparable to that of computed tomography.