The 'beading' appearance is seen in the condition:
Chronic pancreatitis
Acute pancreatitis
Gall stone ileus
Sub-acute intestinal obstruction
In chronic pancreatitis, the pancreatic duct may show beading or a chain-of-lakes or string-of-pearls appearance because of alternating stenosis and dilatation of the pancreatic duct. Other features of chronic pancreatitis include strictures, cysts and ductal calculi.