US-guided percutaneous pancreatography: experience in 75 patients.

Seventy-five patients underwent ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous pancreatography during a 3 1/2-year period. Pancreatography was successful in 67 patients, and there were no significant complications. The technique, which is easy to perform, was primarily employed to assist localization of pancreatic masses at fine-needle aspiration biopsy. It was also used to demonstrate pancreatic duct morphology when endoscopic retrograde pancreatography had failed or proved non-diagnostic. This enabled mapping of the duct system prior to pancreatic surgery. In cases of diagnostic difficulty, assessment of duct appearance with US-guided pancreatography was more accurate in differentiating carcinoma from chronic pancreatitis than was assessment with endoscopic retrograde pancreatography.