[Pancreatic pseudocysts simulating a mass in the left kidney. A report on 4 cases (author's transl)]

Pancreatic pseudocysts were observed to simulate a mass in the upper pole of the left kidney in 4 patients. Urographic investigation of these pseudocysts revealed deformities similar in all respects to those produced by a cyst, though in two cases the mass was surrounded by a thick wall. A better definition of the parenchymatous deformity was obtained by the use of true trunk profile nephrotomograms. The value of ultrasonography, using the grey scale, and of transparietal puncture with measurement of amylase levels, is stressed. The authors discuss the problem of establishing the precise location--anterior to, surrounding, or within the kidney--of these pseudocysts.