Pancreatic hardness: Correlation of surgeon’s palpation, durometer measurement and preoperative magnetic resonance imaging features

Table 1 Magnetic resonance imaging sequences and parameters

	3-T system
	T2WI HASTE	T1WI	DWI
TR	800	3.2	4500
TE	95	1.3	56
ETL	70	1
Thickness (mm)	6	2.8	6
Slice gap	0	0	0
FOV (mm²)	380 × 309	380 × 309	400 × 313
Matrix size	320 × 156	384 × 250	120 × 94
NEX	2	1	47
b factor (s/mm2)			0, 500

TR: Repetition time; TE: Echo time; ETL: Echo train length; FOV: Field of view; HASTE: Half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo; NEX: Number of excitations; DWI: Diffusion-weighted image; T1WI: T1-weighted image; T2WI: T2-weighted image.

Table 2 Comparison of parameters between two groups based on the surgeon’s subjective analysis of the pancreas

	Soft (n = 44)	Hard (n = 39)	P value
Parenchyma diameter	15 (13-20.75)	15 (13-20)	0.791
Duct diameter	3 (1-3)	5 (3-7)	< 0.001
D/P ratio	0.13 (0.08-0.23)	0.25 (0.18-0.55)	< 0.001
ADCmean (mm2/s)	1.62 (1.50-1.77)	1.45 (1.24-1.63)	0.012
ADCmin (mm2/s)	1.51 (1.32-1.59)	1.27 (1.11-1.47)	0.004
RSID (%)	10.2 (5.9-22.5)	15.2 (7.8-22.8)	0.174

Data are presented as the median and interquartile range. D/P ratio: Duct/parenchyma ratio; ADC: Apparent diffusion coefficient; ADC_mean: Mean ADC value; ADC_min: Minimal ADC value; RSID: Relative signal intensity decreases.

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate regression analyses assessing the association between the factors and pancreatic hardness

	Univariate			Multivariate
	Coefficient	SE	P value	Coefficient	SE	P value
Parenchyma diameter	-0.022	0.044	0.611	-
Duct diameter	0.520	0.137	< 0.001	1.001	0.380	0.008
D/P ratio	4.819	1.442	0.001	-3.616	4.102	0.378
ADCmean (mm2/s)	-0.001	0.001	0.083	0	0.003	0.923
ADCmin (mm2/s)	-0.002	0.001	0.017	-0.004	0.003	0.166
RSID (%)	0.013	0.014	0.356	-

D/P ratio: Duct/parenchyma ratio; ADC: Apparent diffusion coefficient; ADC_mean: Mean ADC value; ADC_min: Minimal ADC value; RSID: Relative signal intensity decreases; SE: Standard error.