Endoscopic ultrasonography elastography in the diagnosis of intrapancreatic ectopic spleen: A case report

Intrapancreatic accessory spleen (IPAS) mimics a pancreatic neoplasm on imaging studies, and due to the lack of radiological diagnostic criteria, patients undergo unnecessary distal pancreatectomies. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is a reliable and efficient diagnostic modality for pancreatic diseases. However, no EUS criteria have been established for IPAS. We present the EUS-elastography image of IPAS, which may minimize the chance of misdiagnosis in the future.

A 50-year-old man was referred for an EUS evaluation after computed tomography showed a hypervascular enhanced mass in the tail of the pancreas, which indicated a neuroendocrine neoplasm. EUS elastography demonstrated that the lesion of interest covered no more than 25% of the region of interest. The patient underwent distal pancreatectomy. However, the resected tissue was evaluated, and the patient was finally diagnosed with IPAS.

IPAS should be considered in patients with suspected pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreatic tail before surgery is performed. The differentiation between IPAS and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors can be demonstrated using EUS-elastography.