Published online Sep 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i36.13195
Revised: April 29, 2014
Accepted: May 25, 2014
Published online: September 28, 2014
Cystic lymphangiomas of the adrenal gland are rare. A 79-year-old female presented in the emergency room with epigastric discomfort, and an immovable mass was palpated in her abdomen upon physical examination. Imaging studies revealed a large cystic lesion in the pancreatic tail. The radiologic impression ruled out the possibility of a mucinous cystic neoplasm, or a pseudocyst in the pancreas. The operative findings demonstrated that the cystic mass originated in the left adrenal gland. A laparoscopic excision of the cystic mass was performed, and immunohistochemistry confirmed that this mass was a lymphangioma of the adrenal gland. Several prior reports have suggested that lymphangioma can mimic renal or splenic cysts. However, lymphangioma cases mimicking pancreatic cysts are very rare.
Core tip: This paper reports the case of a large symptomatic adrenal cyst that was initially considered to be a mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas on radiologic imaging. To our knowledge, several prior reports have shown that lymphangioma can mimic renal or splenic cysts, but lymphangioma cases mimicking pancreatic tail cysts are rare.