Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 6, 2018; 6(15): 1036-1041
Published online Dec 6, 2018. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v6.i15.1036
Pancreatic panniculitis and solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas: A case report
Meng-Yu Zhang, Bo-Le Tian
Meng-Yu Zhang, Bo-Le Tian, Department of Pancreatic Surgery, West China Hospital/West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Meng-Yu Zhang, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Tian BL designed the report; Zhang MY collected the patient’s clinical data and drafted and reviewed the manuscript; both authors have read and approved the final manuscript to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan Province, China, and informed consent was obtained from the patient.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Bo-Le Tian, MD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Department of Pancreatic Surgery, West China Hospital/West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University, No. 37, Guoxue Avenue, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. hxtbl0338@126.com
Telephone: +86-28-85553329
Received: August 17, 2018
Peer-review started: August 17, 2018
First decision: October 4, 2018
Revised: November 3, 2018
Accepted: November 7, 2018
Article in press: November 7, 2018
Published online: December 6, 2018
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Case characteristics

A 19-year-old woman presented with persistent left upper abdominal pain without obvious cause for 1 d. The patient also developed subcutaneous nodules involving lower abdomen bilaterally and lower limbs. An irregular mass was found in the pancreatic body and tail on plain abdominal computed tomography (CT), contrast-enhanced abdominal CT, and contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

Clinical diagnosis

Solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas (SPTP), pancreatic panniculitis.

Differential diagnosis

Pancreatic cancer.

Laboratory diagnosis

Abnormal laboratory findings included the results of routine blood: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio 85.5% (normal range: 40%-75%), hemoglobin 88 g/L (normal range: 115-150 g/L). Liver function test showed albumin 30 g/L (normal range: 40-55 g/L) and alanine aminotransferase 62 U/L (normal range: 8-40 U/L). The result of serum amylase was 869 U/L (normal range: 40-100 U/L), and serum lipase was 759 U/L (normal range: 0-110 U/L).

Imaging diagnosis

Contrast-enhanced abdominal CT revealed a cystic/solid mass with mixed density in the body and tail of the pancreas.

Pathological diagnosis

SPTP, pancreatic panniculitis.

Treatment

Laparoscopic resection of the mass in the pancreatic body and tail with preservation of the spleen.

Related reports

Some articles have described the imaging diagnosis and treatment of SPTP and pancreatic panniculitis, as shown in the References.

Experiences and lessons

Clinicians should be aware of the clinical manifestation and treatment of pancreatic panniculitis. Although SPTP has good prognosis and the postoperative 5-year survival rate is high, efforts should be made to increase further diagnostic accuracy and optimize therapeutic methods, so as to improve the quality of life of SPTP patients.