Etiologic Distribution of Pancreatic Cystic Lesions Identified on Computed Tomography/Magnetic Resonance Imaging

This study aimed to determine the distribution of etiology of pancreatic cysts using established criteria/markers from cyst fluid analysis and cytology that have been reported to have high specificity in published literature.

A retrospective study of pancreatic cysts using an endoscopic database from March 2002 and May 2013 was conducted. Pancreatic cysts <10 mm and cysts with a history of pancreatic cancer were excluded.

In our cohort of 758 patients with pancreatic cyst(s), the cyst etiology was as follows: mucinous cyst/side-branch intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (SB-IPMNs)/mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCN; 48.2%), pseudocyst (27.6%), serous cystadenoma (11%), simple cysts (6.4%), mucinous cystadenocarcinoma (5.1%), and other (1%). Approximately 41% (n = 310) of the cysts were ≥3 cm in size and included the following: pseudocyst (39.7%), mucinous cysts/SB-IPMN/MCN (28.1%), serous cystadenoma (16.7%), mucinous cyst adenocarcinoma (9.7%), and simple cyst (4.8%). In 118 patients with a known history of acute pancreatitis, the cyst diagnoses included pseudocyst (68.7%), mucinous cyst/SB-IPMN/MCN (18.6%), benign/simple cyst (7.6%), and mucinous cystadenocarcinoma (2.5%).

In patients with cystic pancreatic lesion noted on cross-sectional imaging, approximately half of the patients have lesions without malignancy or malignant potential and therefore not requiring surveillance. Endoscopic ultrasound/endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration evaluation of the pancreatic cysts can help optimize their further management.