[Localized retroperitoneal xanthofibrogranuloma simulating a pancreatic tumor]

The diagnosis of xanthofibrogranuloma is difficult. This is examplified by observations in a 46-year-old man with a palpable tumor in the left upper abdomen. Even modern diagnostic procedures like ultrasound, angiography and ERCP were unable to clarify the diagnosis. Only when laparotomy demonstrated a circumscript tumor, 7 x 7 x 10 cm in size, below the pancreas which was enucleated, the suspicion of a pancreatic tumor could be dismissed. The different clinical pictures of xanthofibrogranuloma ware discussed. Etiology is still unknown. Therapy as a rule should be surgical.