Abstract
Objective: Pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs) should be carefully followed up because they are transabdominal ultrasound (TAUS) findings indicating a high-risk of pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of follow-up TAUS for PCL surveillance, with reference to previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods: The hospital database for 781 subjects who underwent a health check-up including MRI was searched. The PCL detection rate and the size of their maximum dimension in follow-up TAUS after MRI were examined. Subjects with and without detected PCLs in follow-up TAUS were statistically compared for clinical characteristics.
Results: The detection rate for PCLs that were invisible in the initial TAUS was 21.9% in follow-up TAUS after MRI and 68.7% of these PCLs were under-measured, with a size difference of –1.8 ± 3.7 mm. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that visualization of PCLs by follow-up TAUS was significantly associated with PCL size and the presence of fatty liver (OR, 95% CI, p: 1.477, 1.252–1.741, 0.000; 0.252, 0.088–0.725, 0.011). On the other hand, with a detection rate of 97.5% for the visible PCLs in the initial TAUS, the reproducibility of follow-up TAUS was very high, although 51.3% of these PCLs were under-measured, with a size difference of –1.3 ± 2.3 mm.
Conclusions: The PCL detection rate for follow-up TAUS after MRI improved in approximately 20% of subjects with invisible PCLs in the initial TAUS, and high reproducibility was demonstrated for TAUS. It should be noted that PCL size could be under-measured in TAUS, after MRI.
