Wirsungocele is defined as a cystic dilatation of the terminal portion of the main pancreatic duct, and this is an extremely rare malady. The pathophysiology of Wirsungocele has been proposed that a congenital or acquired weakness in the distal duct that's associated with functional obstruction may lead to the formation of Wirsungocele. In addition, mechanical obstruction of the distal duct has been considered as another mechanism of Wirsungocele. We report here on the imaging findings of two cases of Wirsungocele that seemed to occur by different pathophysiologic mechanisms.
Dilatation ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Ducts

No abstract available.
Flowers ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Stents

Diagnoses of cystic lesions in the pancreas are increasing in clinical practice because of the wider use of imaging studies. The selection of appropriate treatment depends on the ability to distinguish between benign and malignant cysts. However, cystic pancreatic neoplasms are sometimes misdiagnosed as pseudocysts and treated improperly. We experienced a case of mucinous cystic neoplasm of the pancreas misdiagnosed as a pseudocyst, which had a communication between the cyst and the main pancreatic duct.
Mucins ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatic Neoplasms

This review article describes morphological aspects, gene abnormalities, and mucin expression profiles in precursor lesions such as pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), and mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN) of the pancreas, as well as their relation to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The gene abnormalities in precursors of PDAC are summarized as follows: (1) KRAS mutation and p16/CDKN2A inactivation are early events whose frequencies increase with the dysplasia grade in both PanIN and IPMN; (2) TP53 mutation and SMAD4/DPC4 inactivation are late events observed in PanIN3 or carcinomatous change of IPMN in both PanIN and IPMN, although the frequency of the TP53 mutation is lower in IPMN than in PDAC; and (3) also in MCN, KRAS mutation is an early event whose frequency increases with the dysplasia grade, whereas TP53 mutation and SMAD4/DPC4 inactivation are evident only in the carcinoma. The mucin expression profiles in precursors of PDAC are summarized as follows: (1) MUC1 expression increases with the PanIN grade, and is high in PDAC; (2) the expression pattern of MUC2 differs markedly between the major subtypes of IPMN with different malignancy potentials (i.e., IPMN-intestinal type with MUC2+ expression and IPMN-gastric type with MUC2- expression); (3) MUC2 is not expressed in any grade of PanINs, which is useful for differentiating PanIN from intestinal-type IPMN; (4) de novo expression of MUC4, which appears to increase with the dysplasia grade; and (5) high de novo expression of MUC5AC in all grades of PanINs, all types of IPMN, MCN, and PDAC.
Adenocarcinoma ; Mucins ; Pancreas ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatic Neoplasms

No abstract available.
Constriction, Pathologic ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatic Neoplasms

Santorinicele is defined as a focal cystic dilatation of the terminal portion of the dorsal pancreatic duct at the minor papilla. It is unclear whether a santorinicele is congenital or an acquired lesion secondary to relative obstruction and a weakness of the distal dorsal duct wall. Because almost all santorinicele reported to date have been associated with pancreas divisum, it has been assumed that santorinicele is related to the obstruction of pancreatic outflow and resultant pancreatitis that occurs in the pancreas divisum. We describe three cases of santorinicele without pancreatic divisum which were identified incidentally.
Dilatation ; Pancreas* ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatitis

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is often used to guide drainage of pancreatic fluid collections (PFCs). EUS enhances the diagnosis of cystic pancreatic lesions and enables real-time image-guided control of PFC drainage. EUS may facilitate the endoscopic treatment of patients with pancreatic necrosis and patients with disconnected pancreatic duct syndrome.
Drainage ; Humans ; Necrosis ; Pancreatic Ducts

The study was performed in 22 patients with pancreatic stones treated at Surgical Department of Bach Mai Hospital from May 1996 to July 2001. The study was to describe the clinical and paraclinical symptoms as well as the early outcome of wirsungotomy removing the calculi and pancreatico – jejunostomy. The result showed that the disease was more often seen in working ages; more male than females; clinical symptoms were not specific; diagnosis relied mainly on imagery examens. The pancreatolithotomy is effective operation and easy for patients and riquires futher surverying for long term evaluation.
Pancreatic Ducts ; Surgery ; Pancreaticojejunostomy ; Calculi

Autoimmune chronic pancreatitis (AIP) typically manifests as diffuse pancreatic swelling and diffuse irregular narrowing of the main pancreatic duct. Recently, mass-forming focal-type AIP, which shows focal pancreatic swelling with mass and focal narrowing of the main pancreatic duct, has been reported. Since this type of AIP is difficult to differentiate from pancreatic cancer, the greater part of these cases have been treated surgically, with the diagnosis confirmed thereafter. Here we report a case of mass-forming focal-type AIP detected in the head of the pancreas; it has been successfully treated with steroids.
Head ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; Pancreatitis ; Pancreatitis, Chronic

A 68-year-old man was admitted due to abdominal pain. He was diagnosed as having recurrent pancreatitis with a pseudocyst, which is communicated through the main pan- creatic duct. An endoscopic pancreatic sphincterotomy and insertion of a nasopancreatic tube into the main pancreatic duct via transpapillary drainage were performed. As a result, the pseudocyst disappeared and the pain was relieved. Thus it was concluded that transpapillary drainage via the main pancreatic duct is a safe and effective treatment for pancreatic pseudocysts, which is communicated through the main pancreatic duct.
Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Drainage* ; Humans ; Pancreatic Ducts* ; Pancreatic Pseudocyst* ; Pancreatitis