Presentation
Abdominal mass.
Patient Data
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.