The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis requires 2 of the following 3 features: (1) abdominal pain consistent with acute pancreatitis: abdominal pain is the earliest symptom to appear, often after overeating or extreme fatigue, mostly sudden onset, located in the epigastrium proper or to the left, pain is persistent and progressively increasing, resembling a knife cut, pain radiating to the back and the hypochondrium. (2) Blood lipase activity (or amylase activity) is at least 3 times the upper limit of normal; (3) Characteristic findings of acute pancreatitis on enhanced CT with infrequent MRI or abdominal ultrasound. Ultrasound of the abdomen: enlargement of the pancreas and abnormal echogenicity in and around the pancreas are seen; it also provides insight into the gallbladder and biliary tract; however, its observation is often compromised by excessive intestinal gas in patients.CT: grading of pancreatic tissue according to its imaging changes is of great value for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of acute pancreatitis and assessment of its severity, especially for differentiating mild and severe pancreatitis; mild cases are seen with non-specific enlargement and MRI: shows enlargement of the pancreas, loss of lace-like contours, and blurred pancreatic borders, which can involve the whole pancreas, or localized pancreatic changes, MRI
Both T1W and T2W can be shown; it can better determine the etiology of acute pancreatitis, evaluate the alteration of the biliopancreatic duct and show pancreatic effusion; it is better than CT in showing peripancreatic effusion in acute pancreatitis. If abdominal pain is intense suggesting acute pancreatitis and blood lipase or amylase activity does not reach three times the upper limit of normal, which may be delayed manifestation, imaging data science is needed to confirm the diagnosis.