MRI appearance of the pancreas in patients with cystic fibrosis: a comparison of pancreas volume in diabetic and non-diabetic patients

We investigated differences in the volume of the pancreas in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with and without diabetes using MRI to study the natural history of CF-related diabetes (CFRD). We investigated 29 pancreas-insufficient adult CF patients, 13 with CFRD and 16 without diabetes. Patients with CFRD were receiving insulin therapy at the time of study. None of the non-diabetic CF patients had evidence of impaired glucose tolerance. Pancreas volume was estimated by MRI scans using T₁ weighted fat-suppression sequences and assessed by an examiner who was unaware of the patients' diabetes status. Pancreas volume of CF patients was measured and subsequently compared with that of non-CF age-matched Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) patients and healthy controls previously investigated. The two CF groups were matched for age and gender. There were no differences in spirometry values, body mass index or pancreatic exocrine function. The pancreas was visible by MRI in only 3 of 13 (23.1%) patients with CFRD and in 5 of 16 (31.3%) patients without diabetes (p-value = 0.7). In total, the pancreas was not detected by MRI as an anatomical entity in 21 of 29 (72.4%) CF patients, irrespective of their diabetes status. When comparing the four study groups, the pancreas was significantly smaller in CF patients than in T1DM patients and healthy controls.