Abstract
The findings of conventional endoscopic retrogrograde pancreatography (ERP) were compared with those of 3.5 times magnified ERP in 47 cases, which were consisted of 5 cases of normal ERP, 28 cases of minimal chronic pancreatitis, 6 cases of moderate chronic pancreatitis, 6 cases of avvanced chronic pancreatitis and 2 cases of pancreatic cancer. The results obtained were as follows; 1) The number of visible branches in the third order increased in magnified ERP. 2) Magnifying ERP made the findings of the main pancreatic duct clearer in 37% of cases examined, and offered new findings in 21% of the cases. By the magnification, the findings of branches of the pancreatic duct bedame more clearified in 66% and new findings appeared in 25%. 3) The comparative study between the magnified endoscopic retrograde pancreatogram and its histology was performed in 5 cases. There were good correspondences.4) In order to compare the figure of pancreatic duct in magnifying ERP with that in conventional ERP, it is necessary to make the amount of the contrast material equal in both methods. However, it was frequently difficult to obtain equal opacif ication of the pancreatic duct. As mentioned above, magnifying ERP will be useful to the precise visualization of the branches of pancreatic duct, and have clinical significance in the diagnosis of minimal chronic pancreatitis.
