Morphological imaging of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours [Imaging morfologico dei tumori neuroendocrini gastroenteropancreatici.]

Biologically active neuroendocrine tumours produce early symptoms and are often difficult to diagnose owing to their small dimensions (<1 cm), whereas biologically inactive forms are often coarse and sometimes found by chance. As well as identifying the lesion, locoregional staging is also particularly important for therapeutic planning. Morphological imaging plays an important role in the identification of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, providing an anatomic substrate for receptorial imaging which usually precede it in the diagnostic work-up, whereas it plays a primary role in the locoregional staging of these neoplasms for which surgery is the first and essential therapeutic approach. In the case of endocrine tumours of the pancreas alone, the most accurate method of diagnosis is currently echo-endoscopy using high-frequency probes. Two-phase spiral CT and dynamic MR have proved equally effective means of identifying endocrine tumours of the pancreas with slightly higher sensitivity for MR, both playing a role in the locoregional staging of biologically active and inactive tumours. Traditional radiology also plays a role in the identification of intestinal carcinoids.