Pancreatic tuberculosis is a rare clinical entity, presenting as malignancy mimicking pancreatic mass. Therefore, it represents a diagnostic challenge. To date, ten cases have been reported in Korea. I report an additional case and review all Korean reports about pancreatic tuberculosis. A 57-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed a 2.2x1.2 cm cystic mass in pancreatic body. She was followed for nine months, at which time a cystic mass was enlarged to 3.3x2.2 cm in size on the CT. An exploratory laparotomy was performed for the accurate diagnosis and to rule out the possibility of malignant change. Pathological examination of the resected specimen revealed chronic granulomatous inflammation with caseous necrosis and multinucleated giant cells, which was compatible with tuberculosis. Among the 11 cases of pancreatic tuberculosis, five cases were combined with pulmonary tuberculosis. The pancreatic tuberculosis frequently presented with multicystic pancreatic mass (81%) and the most common anatomic locations were the head (73%), tail (18%), and body (9%). Three cases were diagnosed by using US or EUS guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), and all cases were medically cured without exploratory laparotomy. In summary, pancreatic tuberculosis, despite its rarity, should be considered for differential diagnosis of pancreatic cystic mass in endemic countries. Clinical suspicion and accurate diagnostic approach including FNAB of pancreatic tuberculosis are needed to avoid performing unnecessary laparotomy.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Diseases/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/diagnosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tuberculosis/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Radiography ; Tuberculosis, Lymph Node ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging

OBJECTIVEThis pictorial review aimed to summarize the most possible differential diagnosis of pancreatic islet cell tumor (PICT).

DATA SOURCESData used in this review were mainly from Medline and Pubmed in English. And all clinical images in this review were from Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China.

STUDY SELECTIONCases of pancreatic cystadenoma, solid pseudo-papillary tumor of the pancreas, pancreatic metastasis, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, para-pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, Castleman disease, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, splenic artery aneurysm and accessory spleen were selected in this pictorial review for differential diagnosis of PICT.

RESULTSCareful analysis of imaging features and correlation with the clinical manifestations may allow a more specific diagnosis. It is also important that the radiologist is familiar with the anatomic variants and disease entities which mimic pancreatic islet cell tumor in order to avoid an improper treatment protocol.

CONCLUSIONSMany congenital anatomic variants or other pancreatic and peri-pancreatic diseases may mimic MDCT appearance of pancreatic islet cell tumor. Radiological, clinical and pathological characteristics should be considered for the final diagnosis.

Candida is a commensal organism that is frequently found in the human gastrointestinal tract. It is the most common organism that causes pancreatic fungal infections. However, magnetic resonance imaging findings of Candida infection in the pancreas have not been described. We report imaging findings of pancreatic candidiasis in a patient in immunocompetent condition. It presented as a multi-septated cystic mass with a peripheral solid component in the background of pancreatitis and restricted diffusion on diffusion-weighted image that mimicked a malignant pancreatic cystic tumor.
Candida/pathogenicity ; Candidiasis/*diagnosis/microbiology/radiography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/*diagnosis/radiography ; Pancreatitis/*diagnosis/microbiology/radiography

Portal annular pancreas is one of the pancreatic fusion anomalies in which the uncinate process of the pancreas extends to fuse with the dorsal pancreas by encircling the portal vein or superior mesenteric vein. We report two consecutive patients with portal annular pancreas. The first case is a 71-year-old male patient who underwent a pancreaticoduodenectomy for intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm in the head of pancreas. His preoperative computed tomography scan showed the suprasplenic type portal annular pancreas. The second case is a 74-year-old female patient who underwent a laparoscopic anterior radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy (RAMPS) for pancreatic body cancer. In operative finding, portal confluence (superior mesenteric vein-splenic vein-portal vein) was encased with the uncinate process of pancreas in both cases. Therefore, they required pancreatic division at the pancreatic neck portion twice. During the postoperative period, grade B and A, respectively, postoperative pancreatic fistulas occurred and were controlled by conservative management. Surgeons need to know about this rare pancreatic condition prior to surgical intervention to avoid complications, and to provide patients with well-designed, case-specific pancreatic surgery.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous/diagnosis/surgery ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mesenteric Veins/radiography ; Pancreas/abnormalities ; Pancreatic Diseases/*diagnosis/therapy ; Pancreatic Fistula/etiology ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/diagnosis/surgery ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy/adverse effects ; Portal Vein/radiography ; Splenic Vein/radiography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To describe the computed tomography (CT) features of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and solid pseudopapillary tumors (SPTs) with unilocular cyst-like appearance, and to compare them with those of unilocular cystic tumors of the pancreas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was approved by our Institutional Review Board, and informed consent was waived. We included 112 pancreatic tumors with unilocular cyst-like appearance on CT (16 solid tumors [nine NETs and seven SPTs] and 96 cystic tumors [45 serous cystadenomas, 30 mucinous cystic neoplasms, and 21 branch-duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms]). Two radiologists reviewed the CT images in consensus to determine tumor location, long diameter, morphological features, wall thicknesses, ratio of wall thickness to tumor size, wall enhancement patterns, intratumoral contents, and accompanying findings. Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the results. RESULTS: All 16 solid tumors had perceptible walls (mean thickness, 2.7 mm; mean ratio of wall thickness to tumor size, 7.7%) with variable enhancement. Four NETs and seven SPTs had hemorrhage, calcifications, and/or mural nodules. Six CT findings were specific for solid tumors with unilocular cyst-like appearance: a thick (> 2 mm) wall, uneven thickness of the wall, high ratio of wall thickness to tumor size, hyper- or hypo-attenuation of the wall in the arterial and portal phase, and heterogeneous internal contents. When three or more of the above criteria were used, 100% specificity and 87.5-92% accuracy were obtained for solid tumors with unilocular cyst-like appearance. CONCLUSION: A combination of CT features was useful for distinguishing solid tumors with unilocular cyst-like appearance from unilocular cystic tumors of the pancreas.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous/diagnosis/*radiography ; Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Papillary/diagnosis/*radiography ; Cystadenoma, Serous ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neuroendocrine Tumors/diagnosis/*radiography ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/diagnosis/*radiography ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of applying MultiVane to liver T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) compared with conventional T2WIs with emphasis on detection of focal liver lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-eight patients (43 men and 35 women) with 86 hepatic lesions and 20 pancreatico-biliary diseases underwent MRI including T2WIs acquired using breath-hold (BH), respiratory-triggered (RT), and MultiVane technique at 3T. Two reviewers evaluated each T2WI with respect to artefacts, organ sharpness, and conspicuity of intrahepatic vessels, hilar duct, and main lesion using five-point scales, and made pairwise comparisons between T2WI sequences for these categories. Diagnostic accuracy (Az) and sensitivity for hepatic lesion detection were evaluated using alternative free-response receiver operating characteristic analysis. RESULTS: MultiVane T2WI was significantly better than BH-T2WI or RT-T2WI for organ sharpness and conspicuity of intrahepatic vessels and main lesion in both separate reviews and pairwise comparisons (p < 0.001). With regard to motion artefacts, MultiVane T2WI or BH-T2WI was better than RT-T2WI (p < 0.001). Conspicuity of hilar duct was better with BH-T2WI than with MultiVane T2WI (p = 0.030) or RT-T2WI (p < 0.001). For detection of 86 hepatic lesions, sensitivity (mean, 97.7%) of MultiVane T2WI was significantly higher than that of BH-T2WI (mean, 89.5%) (p = 0.008) or RT-T2WI (mean, 84.9%) (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Applying the MultiVane technique to T2WI of the liver is a promising approach to improving image quality that results in increased detection of focal liver lesions compared with conventional T2WI.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Artifacts ; Biliary Tract Diseases/diagnosis/radiography ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Diseases/*diagnosis/radiography ; Liver Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Diseases/diagnosis/radiography ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the image quality (IQ) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of reduced field-of-view (FOV) di-ffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of pancreas in comparison with full FOV DWI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, 2 readers independently performed qualitative analysis of full FOV DWI (FOV, 38 × 38 cm; b-value, 0 and 500 s/mm²) and reduced FOV DWI (FOV, 28 × 8.5 cm; b-value, 0 and 400 s/mm²). Both procedures were conducted with a two-dimensional spatially selective radiofrequency excitation pulse, in 102 patients with benign or malignant pancreatic diseases (mean size, 27.5 ± 14.4 mm). The study parameters included 1) anatomic structure visualization, 2) lesion conspicuity, 3) artifacts, 4) IQ score, and 5) subjective clinical utility for confirming or excluding initially considered differential diagnosis on conventional imaging. Another reader performed quantitative ADC measurements of focal pancreatic lesions and parenchyma. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare qualitative scores and ADCs between DWI sequences. Mann Whitney U-test was used to compare ADCs between the lesions and parenchyma. RESULTS: On qualitative analysis, reduced FOV DWI showed better anatomic structure visualization (2.76 ± 0.79 at b = 0 s/mm² and 2.81 ± 0.64 at b = 400 s/mm²), lesion conspicuity (3.11 ± 0.99 at b = 0 s/mm² and 3.15 ± 0.79 at b = 400 s/mm²), IQ score (8.51 ± 2.05 at b = 0 s/mm² and 8.79 ± 1.60 at b = 400 s/mm²), and higher clinical utility (3.41 ± 0.64), as compared to full FOV DWI (anatomic structure, 2.18 ± 0.59 at b = 0 s/mm² and 2.56 ± 0.47 at b = 500 s/mm²; lesion conspicuity, 2.55 ± 1.07 at b = 0 s/mm² and 2.89 ± 0.86 at b = 500 s/mm²; IQ score, 7.13 ± 1.83 at b = 0 s/mm² and 8.17 ± 1.31 at b = 500 s/mm²; clinical utility, 3.14 ± 0.70) (p < 0.05). Artifacts were significantly improved on reduced FOV DWI (2.65 ± 0.68) at b = 0 s/mm² (full FOV DWI, 2.41 ± 0.63) (p < 0.001). On quantitative analysis, there were no significant differences between the 2 DWI sequences in ADCs of various pancreatic lesions and parenchyma (p > 0.05). ADCs of adenocarcinomas (1.061 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.133 at reduced FOV and 1.079 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.135 at full FOV) and neuroendocrine tumors (0.983 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.152 at reduced FOV and 1.004 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.153 at full FOV) were significantly lower than those of parenchyma (1.191 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.125 at reduced FOV and 1.218 × 10⁻³ mm²/s ± 0.103 at full FOV) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Reduced FOV DWI of the pancreas provides better overall IQ including better anatomic detail, lesion conspicuity and subjective clinical utility.
Adult ; Aged ; Artifacts ; Diagnosis, Differential ; *Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; *Echo-Planar Imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreas/*radiography ; Pancreatic Diseases/pathology/*radiography ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/pathology/radiography ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether or not detailed cystic feature analysis on CT scans can assist in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) from serous cystadenoma (SCN), mucinous cystadenoma (MCN), and a pseudocyst. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study received Institutional Review Board approval and informed patient consent was waived. Electronic radiology and pathology databases were searched to identify patients with PDAC (n = 19), SCN (n = 26), MCN (n = 20) and a pseudocyst (n = 23) who underwent pancreatic CT imaging. The number, size, location, and contents of cysts, and the contour of the lesions were reviewed, in addition to the wall thickness, enhancement patterns, and other signs of pancreatic and peripancreatic involvement. Diagnosis was based on lesion resection (n = 82) or on a combination of cytological findings, biochemical markers, and tumor markers (n = 6). Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the results. RESULTS: A combination of the CT findings including irregular contour, multiple cysts, mural nodes, and localized thickening, had a relatively high sensitivity (74%) and specificity (75%) for differentiating PDAC from SCN, MCN, and pseudocysts (p < 0.05). Other CT findings such as location, greatest dimension, or the presence of calcification were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: The CT findings for PDAC are non-specific, but perhaps helpful for differentiation. PDAC should be included in the general differential diagnosis of pancreatic cystic neoplasms.
Adenocarcinoma/pathology/*radiography ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous/pathology/*radiography ; Cystadenoma, Mucinous/pathology/*radiography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/pathology/*radiography ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; *Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tumor Markers, Biological/analysis

Brunnera's gland hyperplasia is a benign tumor of the duodenum and it is rarely associated with clinical symptoms. We report on a 64-yr-old man with Brunnera's gland hyperplasia who had undergone a duodenocephalo-pancreatectomy. The reason is that he presented upper gastrointestinal obstructive symptoms and the esophagogastroduodenoscopic finding revealed the lesion to be an infiltrating type mass on the second portion of the duodenum with luminal narrowing. An abdominal computed tomography showed a 2.5 cm-sized mass in the duodenal second portion with a suspicious pancreatic invasion and 7 mm-sized lymph node around the duodenum. Duodenocephalopancreatectomy was successfully performed. Histological examination revealed a Brunnera's gland hyperplasia. The final diagnosis was the coexistence of Brunnera's gland hyperplasia and pancreatic heterotopia with a pancreatic head invasion. The literature on Brunnera's gland hyperplasia is reviewed.
Brunner Glands/*pathology/radiography ; *Choristoma ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Duodenal Neoplasms/*pathology/radiography/surgery ; Duodenum/pathology/radiography ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Diseases/*pathology/radiography ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Severity of Illness Index ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed