Evaluation of necrotizing pancreatitis in the opossum by dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography: correlation between radiographic and morphologic changes.

The ability to quantitate the extent of acinar cell necrosis with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) during acute pancreatitis is uncertain. Acute hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis was induced in opossums by obstructing their biliopancreatic duct for up to seven days or by retrograde injection of a bile-trypsin taurocholate mixture into the opossum pancreatic duct. At selected times, groups of three animals each were examined by dynamic contrast-enhanced CT, and the abnormalities on the images were quantitated. Immediately following CT, the animals were sacrificed and the extent of necrosis was quantitated by morphometric analysis of tissue samples at the light microscope level. The CT severity score as well as the degree of nonenhancement on dynamic contrast-enhanced CT were both closely correlated with the extent of acinar cell necrosis (r = 0.91 and r = 0.97, respectively). The degree of pancreatic nonenhancement on dynamic contrast-enhanced CT can be used to quantitate the extent of pancreatic necrosis during acute necrotizing pancreatitis.