Cystic lesions of the pancreas (differential)

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The differential for cystic lesions of the pancreas includes:

unilocular
- pancreatic pseudocyst
- intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN)
- serous cystadenoma uncommonly uni/macrolocular
- simple pancreatic cyst
- pancreatic cysts occur in association with
- cystic neuroendocrine tumour of pancreas
macrocystic: multilocular
- mucinous cystic neoplasm of pancreas: usually body and tail
- intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN)
- serous cystadenoma uncommonly uni/macrolocular
- acinar cell cystadenocarcinoma
- hydatid cyst ¹²
microcystic
- serous cystadenoma: usually head; 30% have a central scar
cystic with a solid component
- walled-off pancreatic necrosis
- macrocystic tumours can also have a solid component
- solid pseudopapillary tumour of pancreas
- primary ductal pancreatic tumour with cystic degeneration
- cystic degeneration of islet cell tumours (neuroendocrine tumours)
  - insulinoma
  - glucagonoma
cystic teratoma
metastases to pancreas

Retroperitoneal lesions (extrinsic to the pancreas) can mimic pancreatic cystic lesions, when close to the gland. Examples include:

cystic lymphadenopathy (e.g. necrotic)
duodenal diverticulum

Practical points

The American College of Radiology (ACR) published guidelines on managing incidental cystic pancreatic lesions in 2017¹¹.

+<li><a title="cystic neuroendocrine tumour of pancreas" href="/articles/cystic-neuroendocrine-tumour-of-pancreas">cystic neuroendocrine tumour of pancreas</a></li>

Images Changes:

Image 6 CT (C+ portal venous phase) ( update )

Caption was changed:

Case 6: ~~Pancreatic~~pancreatic hydatid cyst

Image 9 MRI (T2 haste) ( create )

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Cystic lesions of the pancreas (differential)

Updates to Article Attributes

Practical points

Image 6 CT (C+ portal venous phase) ( update )

Image 9 MRI (T2 haste) ( create )

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