The differential diagnosis of pancreatic cystic neoplasms with conventional ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

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Advances in imaging have improved the detection rate of pancreatic cystic neoplasms (PCNs), but clinical management varies depending on the pathological type of PCNs, and thus accurate differential diagnosis is of considerable clinical significance. We conducted this study to identify the clinical and sonographic features of PCNs with significance for differential diagnosis and to compare the diagnostic accuracy of conventional ultrasound and conventional ultrasound combined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for PCNs. From January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2022, a total of 100 patients with PCNs who underwent CEUS examination and were confirmed to have PCNs by postoperative pathology in West China Hospital of Sichuan University were included in this study. Of the clinical characteristics of PCNs, age and gender were found to be important differential diagnostic features. Moreover, communication of the lesion with the main pancreatic duct on conventional ultrasound and CEUS images was a critical feature in the differential diagnosis of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN). The size of the lesion, the thickness of the cyst wall and the number of septa in conventional ultrasound images, the uniformity of the cyst wall thickness in CEUS images, and the enhancement pattern in the arterial phase were significant features for the differential diagnosis of serous cystic neoplasm (SCN). Cyst wall thickness and uniformity of the cyst wall thickness in conventional ultrasound images and cyst wall thickness and septa thickness in CEUS images were important features in the differential diagnosis of mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN). The size and internal components of the lesion on conventional ultrasound images, internal components of the lesion, and the enhancement pattern in the arterial phase and rim enhancement on CEUS images were the key features in the differential diagnosis of solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN). Conventional ultrasound combined with CEUS demonstrated significantly greater accuracy than did conventional ultrasound alone in the differential diagnosis of PCNs (66% vs. 79%; P=0.002). PCN types differ in their clinical and ultrasound features. Conventional ultrasound combined with CEUS can better distinguish between different pathological types of PCNs than can conventional ultrasound alone.