Inflammatory Pseudotumor of the Pancreas Mimicking a Pancreatic Neoplasm

Abstract

A 78-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a pancreatic tumor, incidentally discovered in an abdominal ultrasound exam. She was asymptomatic and without any previous personal pathological condition. The computed tomography (CT) and the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed a mass lesion of 4 cm in diameter, located in the pancreatic body, conditioning the invasion of the splenic vein. The patient was admitted to surgery. During the laparotomy, we found a tumoral lesion highly suspicious of pancreatic neoplasia located in the transition of the head/body of the pancreas, with an invasion of the portal vein and several peri-regional lymph nodes. We performed biopsies of the pancreatic mass and lymphadenectomy of the peri-regional pancreatic lymph nodes. Histological analysis found an inflammatory pseudotumor of the head/body of the pancreas, without signals of malign epithelial neoplasm and also without criteria for immunoglobulin G4-related disease. During the follow-up, a PET/CT and MRI confirmed that the pancreatic lesion had disappeared without any treatment. Inflammatory pseudotumor of the pancreas is a rare entity not fully understood. Despite this, the administration of corticosteroids and immunosuppressive therapy could be taken into consideration as the disease carries a risk.