A tumor of the pancreas mimicked by colonic duplication

A case of cystic colonic duplication in an adult mimicked a tumor of the pancreas and the diagnosis was established by histopathological examination of the resected specimen after distal pancreatectomy.

This report performed by a team led by Dra. Fabiana P Carneiro, is described in a case report to be published in Volume 14 issue 6 of the World Journal of Gastroenterology in 2008.

Depending on the age of patient, and on the localization, size and shape of the intestinal duplications, the diagnosis may be difficult and frequently is not made preoperatively

The patient may remain asymptomatic or present with a variety of nonspecific signs and symptoms often confusing intestinal duplication with other more common diagnosis; but there are some image findings that may be helpful in establishing preoperative diagnosis of intestinal duplication.

In the view of the authors, intestinal duplication should be considered in differential diagnosis of mass abdominal to avoid its complications and to better conduct treatment.