Age-related morphological changes of the pancreas: an analysis of 191 cases with magnetic resonance pancreatography / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate age-related morphological changes of the pancreas in healthy people using magnetic resonance imaging(MRI).Methods:From January 2017 to October 2019, people who took physical examinations at our hospital were enrolled and were divided into 7 groups according to age 20-29 years old, 30-39 years old, 40-49 years old, 50-59 years old, 60-69 years old, 70-79 years old and ≥80 years.Also, the former four groups were classified as young and middle-aged(<60 years old)and the latter three as the elderly(≥60 years old). Morphological characteristics of the pancreas in each group were examined via MRI.Differences in parameters such as anteroposterior diameters of the head, body and tail and the pancreatic volume between the groups and the relationship between these parameters and age were analyzed.Results:A total of 191 cases who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled, including 96(50.3%)males and 95(49.7%)females, with 28 aged 20-29 years, 28 aged 30-39 years, 27 aged 40-49 years, 26 aged 50-59 years, 30 aged 60-69 years, 28 aged 70-79 years and 26 aged ≥80 years.There were 109 cases in the young and middle-aged category and 82 cases in the elderly category.MRI findings included pancreatic atrophy, which was most obvious in the tail; uneven and serrated edges of the pancreas and pancreatic lobulation; uneven signal intensity in the T 1-and T 2-weighted sequences; the "crispening effect" of pancreatic steatosis in the opposed-phase T 1-weighted sequences, and a trend of widening of the main pancreatic duct.The anteroposterior diameters of the pancreatic head, body and tail and the pancreatic volume reached the peak at(28.21±4.55)mm, (24.00±4.45)mm, (24.91±5.08)mm and(100.91±27.44)cm 3 between 30-39 years of age, and then gradually decreased to(18.87±3.82)mm, (15.63±3.96)mm, (13.70±3.70)mm and(43.88±10.47)cm 3 in those aged ≥80 years, with a decrease of 33.10%, 34.88%, 45.00% and 56.51%, respectively.The anteroposterior diameters of the pancreatic head, body, tail and the pancreatic volume in the elderly were(21.59±4.35)mm, (18.10±4.29)mm, (17.00±4.56)mm and(59.85±22.73)cm 3, which were smaller than those in the young and middle-aged category[(26.18±4.57)mm, (22.10±4.64)mm, (22.42±4.71)mm and(90.09±25.06)cm 3], and the differences were statistically significant( t=7.12, 6.19, 8.10 and 8.71, respectively, all P<0.001). The anteroposterior diameters of the head, body and tail and the pancreatic volume were negatively correlated with age( r=-0.52, -0.45, -0.56 and -0.57, respectively, P<0.001). Conclusions:The anteroposterior diameters of the head, body and tail and the pancreatic volume reach the peak between 30-39 years of age, and then gradually start to decline with the increase of age.After age 60, the decline become more evident, showing morphological signs of degeneration and dilatation of the main pancreatic duct.