Multiparametric quantitative MRI of healthy adult pancreas: correlations with gender and age

BackgroundThe pancreas plays an important role in the nutrition and metabolism of the whole body. Many disease processes including obesity, diabetes mellitus (DM), acute or chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic carcinoma result in abnormality of pancreas morphology and function. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides quantitative parameters including T1, T2, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values for evaluating normal and abnormal pancreas. Based on the normal range of these quantitative parameters, pancreatic abnormality could be detected early. However, the range and the relationship of T1, T2, and ADC values with gender and age groups using the same dataset have not been explored.PurposeTo establish the ranges of MRI tissue and functional parameters, including T1, T2, and ADC values, in healthy adult pancreas and their correlations with gender, subregion, and age.Materials and methodsThe T1, T2, and ADC values of healthy pancreas in 86 adults were measured using a 3.0-T MRI scanner. The average T1, T2, and ADC values were obtained in the whole pancreas and subregions (head, neck, body, and tail). Their correlations with gender and age were investigated.ResultsThe T1, T2, and ADC values of the whole pancreas from all subjects were 870.07 ± 61.86 ms, 44.07 ± 6.14 ms, and 1.072 ± 0.212 × 10−3 mm2/s, respectively. T2 values were significantly different between genders (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found between subregions. The T1, T2, and ADC values differed significantly among the age groups (P < 0.05). The T1 value revealed a moderately positive correlation, while the T2 and ADC values displayed negative correlations with age (r = 0.31, −0.45, and −0.39, respectively). The combination of T1, T2, and ADC values achieved the highest AUC value and showed a significant difference compared to T1, T2, and ADC values alone in predicting age older than 45 years.ConclusionThis study established the normal ranges of T1, T2, and ADC. We found that T2 is different between men and women, and T1, T2, and ADC are age-dependent. These results could be useful for quantitative MRI of pancreatic disease.