Omkar B. Ijare1, Tedros Bezabeh1,
Nils Albiin2, Annika Bergquist2, Urban Arnelo2,
Mathias Lohr2, Espen Melum3, Ian C.P. Smith1
1National Research Council Institute
for Biodiagnostics, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; 2Karolinska
University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden; 3Deparment
of Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Regurgitation
of pancreatic juice into the biliary tract and the subsequent mixing with
bile is frequently observed in patients with pancreaticobiliary maljunction
(PBM), which is a potential risk factor for the carcinogenesis of bile duct
and gallbladder. The mixing of bile with pancreatic juice is generally
diagnosed by measuring the amylase activity in bile. We propose that
pancreaticobiliary reflux can be detected by 1H MR spectroscopy as
an alternative to the measurement of amylase activity. Moreover, it may be
possible to detect non-invasively the regurgitation of pancreatic fluids into
the gallbladder using in vivo spectroscopy.