Research Article
Computed Tomography Assessment of Vascular Involvement and Diagnostic Accuracy in Pancreatic Tumors
Harshavardhan M1, Patnaik S 2*, Rammurti S1, Varma Gunturi SR3, and Uppin MS3
1Senior Resident, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
2Professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
3Sr Professor & Head, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
4Additional Professor. Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
5Professor, Department of Pathology, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
2Professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
3Sr Professor & Head, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
4Additional Professor. Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
5Professor, Department of Pathology, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
*Corresponding author:Dr. Sujata Patnaik, 505 A Tower, Kalpataru Residency Ashok Marg, Erragada, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. E-mail id: sujata_patnaik222@yahoo.co.in
Copyright: ©2026 Harshavardhan M, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Information:Submission: 10/08/2026; Accepted: 02/10/2026; Published: 06/10/2026
Abstract
Introduction:Multi-Detector Computed Tomography (MDCT) is the most often utilised imaging modality for diagnosis, staging and resectability assessment of pancreatic tumours. Aim of this study was to evaluate the role of vascular involvement in deciding the resectability of pancreatic tumours and specify the imaging characteristics of different pancreatic tumours with special emphasis on diagnostic accuracy.
Material and Methods:All patients undergoing surgical exploration or resection for suspected pancreatic neoplasms were included in the study after ethical approval. Scans were done with 128 slice CT in pancreatic protocol. Fifty-one patients were initially screened, who were referred to the department of radiology with suspicion of pancreatic tumour.
Results:Majority of the patients were in the age group of 51-60 years. Of the 33 cases finally analysed 26 were diagnosed correctly before surgery and 7 had discordant diagnosis. 3 cases of adenocarcinoma turned out to be IPMN, NET and signet ring carcinoma on biopsy report. 1 case of NET was Castleman’s disease. Two cases of SPEN on initial assessment turned out to be Castleman’s disease, and groove pancreatitis after biopsy. One case of NET was SPEN on histopathology. Total of 264 vessels across the 33 patients were studied for accuracy of MDCT to detect vascular involvement. Of these 225 were in grade 0; 5 in grade 1; 25 in grade 2; 5 in grade 3 and 4 in grade 4 involvement with negative predictive value of 100%.
Conclusion:The value of MDCT for detection of vascular involvement in pancreatic tumours to decide on resectability was excellent with a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 94.7 %, Positive predictive value of 77.8%, and overall diagnostic accuracy of 87.9%.
Material and Methods:All patients undergoing surgical exploration or resection for suspected pancreatic neoplasms were included in the study after ethical approval. Scans were done with 128 slice CT in pancreatic protocol. Fifty-one patients were initially screened, who were referred to the department of radiology with suspicion of pancreatic tumour.
Results:Majority of the patients were in the age group of 51-60 years. Of the 33 cases finally analysed 26 were diagnosed correctly before surgery and 7 had discordant diagnosis. 3 cases of adenocarcinoma turned out to be IPMN, NET and signet ring carcinoma on biopsy report. 1 case of NET was Castleman’s disease. Two cases of SPEN on initial assessment turned out to be Castleman’s disease, and groove pancreatitis after biopsy. One case of NET was SPEN on histopathology. Total of 264 vessels across the 33 patients were studied for accuracy of MDCT to detect vascular involvement. Of these 225 were in grade 0; 5 in grade 1; 25 in grade 2; 5 in grade 3 and 4 in grade 4 involvement with negative predictive value of 100%.
Conclusion:The value of MDCT for detection of vascular involvement in pancreatic tumours to decide on resectability was excellent with a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 94.7 %, Positive predictive value of 77.8%, and overall diagnostic accuracy of 87.9%.
Keywords:Pancreatic cancers; Neuro Endocrine Tumours; Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm; Solid Pseudo papillary Epithelial Neoplasms