[Groove pancreatitis and adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head]

A mass within the head of the pancreas causing obstructive jaundice is frequently adenocarcinoma, or infrequently focal pancreatitis. Groove pancreatitis is an inflammation of the head of the pancreas which fills the anatomic space between the head of the pancreas on 1 side and the second part of the duodenum on the other. Obstruction from either cause may cause vomiting, abdominal pain, and loss of weight. It is sometimes impossible to differentiate between the 2 conditions clinically. We present 2 women, aged 41 and 42 years, respectively, with recent onset of diabetes mellitus, obstructive jaundice, abdominal pain and severe loss of weight in whom diagnosis was difficult. In 1 repeated fine needle biopsy directly from the mass did not show adenocarcinoma, but she died of the disease a few months later. The other, in whom malignancy was also suspected, recovered from what was retrospectively diagnosed as groove pancreatitis.