Papillary and cystic tumor of the pancreas possibly concealed within a pseudocyst

A 17 year old girl, with a papillary and cystic tumor of the pancreas, probably concealed within a previous post-traumatic pseudocyst of the pancreas is described. At 10 years of age, she had received a drainage procedure for a pancreatic pseudocyst, following a blunt abdominal trauma. The histological examination of the cyst wall did not show an epithelial lining. Seven years after that, she developed anemia and a computer tomography and ultrasonography of abdomen revealed a 10 cm x 9 cm x 8 cm, cystic, multilocular pancreatic mass with solid parts. On operation, a fist-sized, solid and multilocular cystic tumor, located in the body and tail of the pancreas, and infiltrating into the colonic serosa but with no metastasis, was found and completely excised. Histologic and electron microscopic examination revealed the characteristic features of a papillary and cystic tumor of the pancreas. This report suggests that cystic lesions of the pancreas should be carefully checked to decide the best surgical therapy.