Implications of Imaging Criteria for the Management and Treatment of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms – Benign versus Malignant Findings

Objectives Evaluation of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for differentiation of pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) subtypes based on objective imaging criteria. Methods Fifty-eight patients with 60 histologically confirmed IPMNs were included in this retrospective study. Eighty-three imaging studies (CT,n = 42; MRI,n = 41) were analysed by three independent blinded observers (O1–O3), using established imaging criteria to assess likelihood of malignancy (−5, very likely benign; 5, very likely malignant) and histological subtype (i.e., low-grade (LGD), moderate-grade (MGD), high-grade dysplasia (HGD), early invasive carcinoma (IPMC), solid carcinoma (CA) arising from IPMN). Results Forty-one benign (LGD IPMN,n = 20; MGD IPMN,n = 21) and 19 malignant (HGD IPMN,n = 3; IPMC,n = 6; solid CA,n = 10) IPMNs located in the main duct (n = 6), branch duct (n = 37), or both (n = 17) were evaluated. Overall accuracy of differentiation between benign and malignant IPMNs was 86/92 % (CT/MRI). Exclusion of overtly malignant cases (solid CA) resulted in overall accuracy of 83/90 % (CT/MRI). The presence of mural nodules and ductal lesion size ≥30 mm were significant indicators of malignancy ( p = 0.02 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions Invasive IPMN can be identified with high confidence and sensitivity using CT and MRI. The diagnostic problem that remains is the accurate radiological differentiation of premalignant and non-invasive subtypes. Key Points • CT and MRI can differentiate benign from malignant forms of IPMN . • Identifying (pre)malignant histological IPMN subtypes by CT and MRI is difficult . • Overall, diagnostic performance with MRI was slightly (not significantly) superior to CT .