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A gastrointestinal stromal tumour mimicking solid pseudopapillary neoplasia of the pancreas—a case report

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Summary

Background

Diagnosis of large, heterogenous lesions of the pancreas with solid and cystic components is often challenging. The spectrum of differential diagnoses is broad, and clinical as well as radiological findings may be similar.

Methods

Detailed analysis of a clinical case and review of literature

Results

We present the case of a 28-year-old woman with a large, heterogenous tumour of the pancreatic head that was incidentally found in routine ultrasound during pregnancy. The presence of a solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) was suspected because of typical clinical and radiological characteristics. The patient underwent partial pancreatoduodenectomy and surprisingly, histological work-up confirmed a pancreatic extra-gastrointestinal stromal tumour (EGIST).

Conclusion

As clinical and radiological findings may be misleading in a large, heterogenous tumour of the pancreas, a biopsy with histological proof of diagnosis is recommended, especially in situations where a neoadjuvant treatment may be considered.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Pancreatic Cancer Unit (PCU), Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, General Hospital, Währinger Gürtel 18–20, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    C. Müller & M. Schindl

  2. Department of Pathology, Medical University of Vienna, General Hospital, Vienna, Austria

    A. Beer & F. Wrba

  3. Division of Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine I, Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna, Musculoskeletal Tumor Unit, Medical University of Vienna, General Hospital, Vienna, Austria

    T. Brodowicz

  4. Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, General Hospital, Vienna, Austria

    N. Bastati & A. Ba-Ssalamah

Authors
  1. C. Müller
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  2. A. Beer
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  3. F. Wrba
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  4. T. Brodowicz
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  5. N. Bastati
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  6. A. Ba-Ssalamah
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  7. M. Schindl
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. Müller.

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Conflict of interest

C. Müller, A. Beer, F. Wrba, T. Brodowicz, N. Bastati, A. Ba-Ssalamah and M. Schindl declare that they have no competing interests.

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Müller, C., Beer, A., Wrba, F. et al. A gastrointestinal stromal tumour mimicking solid pseudopapillary neoplasia of the pancreas—a case report. Eur Surg 50, 68–72 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-018-0516-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-018-0516-2

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