Zuo HD, Zhang XM, Li CJ, Cai CP, Zhao QH, Xie XG, Xiao B, Tang W. CT and MR imaging patterns for pancreatic carcinoma invading the extrapancreatic neural plexus (Part I): Anatomy, imaging of the extrapancreatic nerve. World J Radiol 2012; 4(2): 36-43 [PMID: 22423316 DOI: 10.4329/wjr.v4.i2.36]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xiao-Ming Zhang, MD, PhD, Professor, Head, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China. cjr.zhxm@vip.163.com
Article-Type of This Article
Review
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Hou-Dong Zuo, Xiao-Ming Zhang, Qiong-Hui Zhao, Bo Xiao, Wei Tang, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China
Cheng-Jun Li, Chang-Ping Cai, Xing-Guo Xie, Department of Anatomy, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637007, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang XM was responsible for checking the manuscript and provided financial support for this work; Li CJ, Cai CP, Zhao QH, Xie XG, Xiao B and Tang W provided the collection of all the materials; Zuo HD designed the study and wrote the manuscript.
Supported by National Nature Science Foundation of China, No. 30370436
Correspondence to: Xiao-Ming Zhang, MD, PhD, Professor, Head, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China. cjr.zhxm@vip.163.com
Telephone: +86-817-2262218 Fax: +86-817-2222856
Received: July 30, 2011 Revised: December 21, 2011 Accepted: December 28, 2011 Published online: February 28, 2012
Abstract
Pancreatic carcinoma is an extremely high-grade malignant tumor with fast development and high mortality. The incidence of pancreatic carcinoma continues to increase. Peripancreatic invasion and metastasis are the main characteristics and important prognostic factors in pancreatic carcinoma, especially invasion into the nervous system; pancreatic nerve innervation includes the intrapancreatic and extrapancreatic nerves. A strong grasp of pancreatic nerve innervation may contribute to our understanding of pancreatic pain modalities and the metastatic routes for pancreatic carcinomas. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are helpful techniques for depicting the anatomy of extrapancreatic nerve innervation. The purpose of the present work is to show and describe the anatomy of the extrapancreatic neural plexus and to elucidate its characteristics using CT and MRI, drawing on our own previous work and the research findings of others.
