Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Endosc. Apr 16, 2026; 18(4): 118422
Published online Apr 16, 2026. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v18.i4.118422
Published online Apr 16, 2026. doi: 10.4253/wjge.v18.i4.118422
Reference range of pancreatic strain histogram by endoscopic ultrasound elastography: A pilot study
Carmen Laurenza, Biagio Elvo, Luca Pignata, Francesco Frigo, Imma Di Luna, Sara Soro, Andrea Drago, Roberto Grassia, Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy Unit, ASST Cremona, Cremona 26100, Lombardy, Italy
Nunzio Zignani, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan 20122, Lombardy, Italy
Dario Dagani, Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, Pavia 27100, Lombardy, Italy
Author contributions: Laurenza C, Zignani N, Elvo B, Di Luna I, Soro S, and Dagani D participated in the performance of the research; Laurenza C, Zignani N, and Dagani D contributed to data analysis and original draft; Laurenza C, Zignani N, and Grassia R participated in research design the study; Pignata L, Frigo F, Drago A, and Grassia R participated in critical revision; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Institutional review board statement: The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Informed consent statement: All participants provided informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest in publishing the manuscript.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement – checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement – checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The data collected in this study are not publicly available for consultation as they are protected by the privacy regulations in force at our institution.
Corresponding author: Nunzio Zignani, MD, Department of Pathophysiology and Trans
Received: January 2, 2026
Revised: January 19, 2026
Accepted: February 26, 2026
Published online: April 16, 2026
Processing time: 102 Days and 16.5 Hours
Revised: January 19, 2026
Accepted: February 26, 2026
Published online: April 16, 2026
Processing time: 102 Days and 16.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This pilot study evaluates endoscopic ultrasound-elastography using strain histogram (SH) analysis to improve the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis (CP), which remains challenging in its early stages. The study compared 95 healthy controls with 48 CP patients to establish reference stiffness values. Results showed that CP patients had significantly higher pancreatic stiffness, indicated by lower SH values compared to healthy subjects (median 72 vs 116, P < 0.01). In conclusion, SH analysis effectively differentiates healthy tissue from CP, providing a safe tool for identifying preclinical pathological changes.