Magnetic nuclear resonance cholangiopancreatography for biliopancreatic pathologies

Background: Magnetic Nuclear Resonance Cholangiography (CRMN) is a diagnostic method that non-invasively evaluates the bile duct and pancreatic duct, synthesizing most of the advantages of invasive and non-invasive radiological studies. Objectives: To analyze the experience with the use of the CRMN, evaluating its usefulness and its application in the study of biliopancreatic pathology. Method: The 114 studies requested and / or controlled by doctors from the General Surgery service during the period between August 1996 and March 1999 were analyzed. Studies carried out in other institutions were not included for their study. The correlation of the CRMN images with the contrasted studies, the intraoperative findings, and the clinical evolution of the patients were analyzed. Results: 54 patients with a presumptive diagnosis of choledochal lithiasis were evaluated. The CRMN had a sensitivity of 93.5 percent, specificity of 95.6 percent, PPV of 96.6 percent, NPV of 91.6 percent and a certainty index of 0.94. In 39 patients with benign and malignant strictures, the sensitivity was 95.0 percent, the specificity was 88.8 percent, a PPV of 97.4 percent, NPV of 80.0 percent, with a certainty index of 0, 93. Evaluated globally, the CRMN presented a sensitivity of 94.7 percent, a specificity of 94.4 percent, a PPV of 97.2 percent, NPV of 89.4 percent and a certainty index of 0, 94. Conclusions: The CRMN is a non-invasive diagnostic method, with high rates of diagnostic certainty, which makes it a valid alternative to invasive procedures, displacing ERCP and percutaneous cholangiography in those cases in which immediate treatment is not proposed. by these routes.