Solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas

Case contributed by Ian Bickle
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Abdominal mass.

Patient Data

Age: 18 years
Gender: Female

Large mass in the tail of pancreas, with both solid and cystic components. No internal calcification.  Enhancing rim/capsule. No pancreatic duct dilatation.

Mass effect on the splenic vein with resultant large varices anterior to the mass.

No lymphadenopathy.

Case Discussion

There are a multitude of cystic lesions of the pancreas. Many have been given more than one name/term over the years resulting in confusion.  One such tumor is the solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas - in 1996 the WHO asigned this name for clarification in the histological classifications.  Originally described by Franz in 1959, its origin name was a Franz-Gruber tumor.

It has a number of imaging characteristics, as well as demographic aspects common to this rare pancreatic tumor.

Solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas is typically large at presentation ( 10cm on average ), has a proponderance for the tail of pancreas and contains both solid and cystic components.   It has a enhancing capsule, may contain hemorrhagic components and in less than 10% contains calcification.

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