Value of Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography in Santorinicele and Wirsungocele

Background: Former studies showed that magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatogra-phy (MRCP) is useful in diagnosing the presence of santorinicele; however, few studies have evalu-ated MRCP in diagnosing wirsungocele and the association between pancreatitis and santorinicele or wirsungocele. The purpose of the study was to explore the performance of MRCP in diagnosing santorinicele and wirsungocele and investigate the potential association among pancreatitis, pan-creas divisum, and santorinicele or wirsungocele. Methods: Sixty-five patients (mean age, 55.68 years; range, 11-82 years) with santorinicele or wir-sungocele were included and sorted into two groups: the santorinicele group (n = 48) and the wir-sungocele group (n = 17). All patients underwent MRCP. The images were evaluated for the ap-pearance and size of santorinicele or wirsungocele. The diagnostic sensitivity of MRCP was as-sessed. Additionally, whether two groups are correlated with pancreas divisum or pancreatitis were investigated. Results: The sensitivity of MRCP in detecting santorinicele and wirsungocele showed no differ-ence (68.8% and 76.5%, respectively). The proportion of patients who developed pancreatitis in santorinicele and wirsungocele groups were 60.4% and 11.8%, respectively (p < 0.05). Pancreas di-visum accounted for 77.1% and 11.8% of the patients in the santorinicele and wirsungocele groups, respectively (p < 0.05). Patients with santorinicele and pancreas divisum tended to be older when they acquired pancreatitis. Conclusion: MRCP could be an alternative imaging method to detect cystic dilation of the pancre-atic duct. Pancreatitis is more common in patients with santorinicele than in those with wirsungo-cele. Moreover, santorinicele is more closely associated with pancreatitis than with pancreas divi-sum.