Impaired response of main pancreatic duct to secretin stimulation in early chronic pancreatitis

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In the present study we compared sonographic measurements of the main pancreatic duct (MPD) following maximal secretin stimulation (75 CU intravenous in 1 min) in 15 chronic pancreatitis patients (CP) with those of 18 normal control subjects. The mean caliber of the main pancreatic duct was 1.2±0.4 mm in controls and 1.8±0.9 in patients with chronic pancreatitis (P max -D)/D] (1.31±0.6 in controls vs 0.66±0.69 in CP, P100%, a persistent dilatation (100–200%) was found 15 min after secretin administration. At this time, the mean percent increase over basal value in controls was 25%. If we accept an abnormal response to secretin as evidence of pancreatic pathology, the absent or decreased (100% at the 15 min, the sensitivity of this provocative test in discriminating early chronic pancreatitis from controls reaches the 86.6% (13 of 15 cases). Results of the present study suggest that the ultrasonographic examination of the main pancreatic duct (MPD) after maximal secretin stimulation may reveal morphological changes not visible under basal conditions, thus helping to diagnose early chronic pancreatitis (CP).