Technical comparison of continuous versus intermittent perfusion computed tomography computed tomography scans of the human pancreas

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic perfusion computed tomography (CT) imaging is increasingly used for neoplastic grading, predicting prognosis, and evaluating the response to therapy. To optimize the clinical pancreatic CT perfusion imaging methods, we evaluated 2 different CT scanning protocols concerning pancreas perfusion parameters. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 40 patients who underwent whole pancreas CT perfusion scanning in The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Of these 40 patients, 20 patients in group A underwent continuous perfusion scanning, while 20 patients in group B underwent intermittent perfusion scanning. For group A, continuous axial scanning was performed 25 times, and the total scan time was 50 s. For group B, arterial phase helical perfusion scanning was performed 8 times, and then venous phase helical perfusion scanning was performed 15 times, with a total scan time of 64.6 to 70.0 s. A comprehensive list of perfusion parameters between different parts of the pancreas and the 2 groups were compared. The effective radiation dose for the 2 scanning methods was analyzed. RESULTS: The parameter of the mean slope of increase (MSI) at different pancreatic parts in group A differed (P=0.028). The pancreas head had the lowest value, and the tail had the highest (about a 20% difference). In group A compared to group B, the blood volume of the pancreatic head was smaller (15.256±2.925 vs. 16.953±3.602), the positive enhanced integral was smaller (0.307±0.050 vs. 0.344±0.060) and the permeability surface was larger (34.205±9. 612 vs. 24.377±8.413); the blood volume of the pancreatic neck was smaller (13.940±2.691 vs. 17.173±3.918), the positive enhanced integral was smaller (0.304±0.088 vs. 0.361±0.051) and the permeability surface was larger (34.898±11.592 vs. 25. 794±8.149); the blood volume of the pancreatic body was smaller (16.142±4.006 vs. 18.401±2.513), the positive enhanced integral was smaller (0.305±0.093 vs. 0.342±0.048) and the permeability surface was larger (28.861±10.448 vs. 22.158±6. 017); the blood volume of the pancreatic tail was smaller (16.446±3.709 vs. 17.374±3.781), the positive enhanced integral was smaller (0.304±0.057 vs. 0.350±0.073) and the permeability surface was larger (27.823±8.228 vs. 21.509±7.768) (P<0.05). The effective radiation dose in the intermittent scan mode was slightly lower at 16.657±2.259 mSv than in the continuous scan mode (17.973±3.698 mSv). CONCLUSIONS: Different CT scanning intervals had a significant influence on whole pancreas blood volume, permeability surface, and positive enhanced integral. These demonstrate the high sensitivity of intermittent perfusion scanning for identifying perfusion abnormalities. Therefore, for the diagnosis of pancreatic diseases, intermittent pancreatic CT perfusion may be more advantageous.