Ductal morphometry of ventral pancreas in pancreas divisum. Comparison between clinical and anatomical results.

Abstract

Aim of the investigation is to precisely study the morphological features of ventral pancreas ductography in pancreas divisum, in order to improve the radiological interpretation and differential diagnosis of this frequent pancreatic anomaly. The clinical part of the study was based on 610 endoscopic retrograde pancreatograms, with pancreas divisum diagnosed in 14 (2.3%) cases; while the anatomical part consisted of 203 postmortem pancreatograms of human pancreas obtained at autopsy, where pancreas divisum was found in 12 (5.9%) cases. The following ductal features of the ventral pancreas were studied: length and calibre of the main duct, number of side branches, calibre of the common bile duct and the biliopancreatic junction angle. No significant differences were detected between the results from the 2 groups, with the exception of side branches, which were more numerous in the anatomical series, probably because of higher injection pressure and consequent better opacification. These results underline the potential of the anatomical pancreatography serving as a model for studying the ductal system of pancreas divisum.