Clinical Value of Contrast‐Enhanced Ultrasound Enhancement Patterns for Differentiating Focal Pancreatitis From Pancreatic Carcinoma: A Comparison Study With Conventional Ultrasound

Objectives We explored the clinical value of using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (US) enhancement patterns for the differential diagnosis of focal pancreatitis from pancreatic carcinoma. Methods A total of 136 solid pancreatic lesions with final diagnoses from January 2010 to February 2016 were enrolled in this study. Twenty-five cases were focal pancreatitis; 86 cases were pancreatic carcinoma; and 25 cases were other types. All of the patients received conventional and contrast-enhanced US examinations. Two experienced US physicians analyzed the contrast-enhanced US enhancement patterns and made diagnoses according to the conventional and contrast-enhanced US manifestations. The inter-rater agreement for the contrast enhancement patterns between the readers was analyzed. The diagnostic efficiency of contrast enhancement patterns for differentiating focal pancreatitis from pancreatic carcinoma was analyzed and compared with that of conventional US. Results The κ test showed good concordance for contrast enhancement patterns between the readers (P < .05). The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of isoenhancement or isoenhancement with focal hypoenhancement in both the early and late phases for diagnosing focal pancreatitis were 72.0%, 95.5%, and 91.2%, respectively. The diagnostic sensitivity of isoenhancement or isoenhancement with focal hypoenhancement in both the early and late phases greatly increased for diagnosing focal pancreatitis in comparison with isoenhancement (72.0% versus 32.0%; P < .05). The diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced US was greatly increased over that of conventional US (85.6% versus 49.5%; P < .001). Conclusions Contrast-enhanced US is a valuable tool for differentiating focal pancreatitis from pancreatic carcinoma and can greatly increase the diagnostic accuracy over conventional US.