Application of Imaging Methods in the Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

Resume. The problem of the use of imaging methods in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is widely discussed among pancreatologists in connection with the increasing prevalence of morbidity and high mortality. The goal is to improve the results of diagnosis of patients with pancreatic cancer. Materials and methods. The results of examination of 72 patients with pancreatic cancer, who were examined according to generally accepted methods, were analyzed. The quality/accuracy/informativeness of the diagnostic methods used in the study were compared according to parameters such as overall accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity. Results and their discussion. The overall accuracy of ultrasound for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was 82.5% (the interval estimate of the overall accuracy was (72.38; 90.09)%, with sensitivity — 76.32% (the sensitivity of the method ranged from (59.76 ; 88.56)%)); and specificity — 88,10% (interval specificity — (74.37 ; 96.02)%). The overall accuracy of CT in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was 92.21% (interval estimate of overall accuracy was (83.81 ; 97.09)%, with sensitivity — 89.19% (interval sensitivity method — (74.58 ; 96.97)%); and specificity — 95% (interval specificity — (83.08 ; 99.39)%). Conclusions. CT is the most informative method for diagnosing pancreatic cancer. It is expedient to include ultrasound in the research algorithm of patients with suspected pancreatic disease as a «screening» method, as well as for the purpose of diagnostic monitoring at the stages of dynamic observation of the patient.