[Tomodensitometry and pancreatic pathology]

Abstract

Computed tomography is currently the most effective method for investigating the pancreas. Though far from superseding ultrasonography, which should always precede it, possible insufficiences of this examination can be corrected and doubtful images clarified. Its greatest usefulness is in acute pancreatitis, as the size of the lesion can be defined as well as subsequent therapeutic measures. It also appears to be the most reliable examination for chronic pancreatitis or cancer of the pancreas at the present time, but their differential diagnosis can raise problems when certain localized hypertrophic lesions exist. However, diagnosis of a pancreatic lesion is only possible when it deforms the gland or modifies its density, and it is illusory to expect early detection of lesions less than 2 or 3 cm in diameter, particularly in cancer cases.