[Usefulness of intravenous contrast in pancreatic echoendoscopy. A case series]. / Utilidad del contraste endovenoso en ecoendoscopía pancreá tica. Reporte de casos.

The intravenous contrast (IV) allows for improving the diagnostic accuracy of echoendoscopy for many pathologic conditions. IV contrast provides a non-invasive method that through the use of real-time enhancement patterns (hypo, iso, and hypercaptation), a highly accurate histological diagnosis can be made by characterizing the microvasculature of an organ or a lesion. However, the lack of availability of IV contrast limited its use in our setting. We reported three cases of endoscopic ultrasound with IV contrast performed in the pancreatic department of National Hospital Eduardo Rebagliati Martins in Lima, Peru. We described the effectiveness of IV contrast in the diagnosis and the management of solid and cystic lesions in the pancreas.

Utilidad del contraste endovenoso en ecoendoscopía pancreática. Reporte de casos / Usefulness of intravenous contrast in pancreatic echoendoscopy. A case series

RESUMEN El empleo del contraste endovenoso permite aumentar la capacidad diagnostica de la ecoendoscopía en muchas condiciones patológicas de forma no invasiva, mediante la evaluación de patrones de realce en tiempo real (hipo, iso e hipercaptación), permitiendo a su vez definir diagnósticos diferenciales o predecir diagnósticos histológicos con alta precisión por medio de la caracterización de la vascularidad o microvasculatura de un órgano o lesión. Sin embargo, su empleo en nuestro medio está limitado por no contar con estos medios de contraste. Reportamos tres casos de ecoendoscopía contrastada realizada en patología pancreática realizada en nuestro hospital, en el que se describe la utilidad en el diagnóstico y manejo de lesiones sólidas y quísticas del páncreas.

ABSTRACT The intravenous contrast (IV) allows for improving the diagnostic accuracy of echoendoscopy for many pathologic conditions. IV contrast provides a non-invasive method that through the use of real-time enhancement patterns (hypo, iso, and hypercaptation), a highly accurate histological diagnosis can be made by characterizing the microvasculature of an organ or a lesion. However, the lack of availability of IV contrast limited its use in our setting. We reported three cases of endoscopic ultrasound with IV contrast performed in the pancreatic department of National Hospital Eduardo Rebagliati Martins in Lima, Peru. We described the effectiveness of IV contrast in the diagnosis and the management of solid and cystic lesions in the pancreas.