Background: It is very important to determine the extent of intraductal mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs), because this can greatly affect the determination of the indications of surgery. Peroral pancreatovideoscopy (POPS) has been recognized as a new diagnostic tool for clear imaging of IPMN. Recently, narrow-band imaging (NBI) has made it possible to emphasize certain image features, such as mucosal structures and capillary vessels.
Objective: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of POPS by using NBI for the diagnosis of IPMN.
Design: Case reports.
Setting: This procedure was performed at Tokyo Medical University Hospital.
Patients: Three patients with IPMN.
Intervention: All patients underwent POPS with NBI.
Main outcome measurement: Efficacy and safety of this technique.
Results: POPS with NBI was performed in 3 patients, without procedure-related complications. Identification of the surface structure and the capillary vessels by NBI observation was better than by conventional observation. Furthermore, NBI identified skip tumor lesions in the tail of pancreas, which were not detected by conventional POPS.
Limitations: Because none of the patients in the 3 cases underwent surgical resection, a comparison to clarify total agreement between the preoperative POPS findings and the resected specimen was not possible.
Conclusions: POPS with NBI may facilitate the observation of both fine mucosal structures and capillary vessels in patients with IPMN, although further study is necessary to fully establish the clinical benefit.