title: Malnutrition, steatorrhoea and pancreatic head tumour.
abstract: A 61-year-old female patient is described who presented with weight loss, steatorrhoea and enlargement of the pancreatic head. Surgical exploration for suspected pancreatic cancer revealed multiple peritoneal white spots, initially suggestive for peritoneal metastases or tuberculosis but finally identified as peritoneal sarcoidosis. Pancreatic insufficiency could not be proven in further studies. We found pancreas divisum as an additional cause for the pancreatic head mass, and steatorrhoea was due to late-onset oligosymptomatic coeliac disease. This case demonstrates diagnostic pitfalls when several rare disorders are manifest in a single patient. Coeliac disease and sarcoidosis might be sequels of similar immune responses to certain antigens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany. kkiehne@1med.uni-kiel.de
authors.forename: Karlheinz
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kiehne
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.forename: Ulrich R
authors.initials: UR
authors.lastname: Fölsch
mesh_terms: D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010532:Peritoneal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D045602:Steatorrhea / Q000209:etiology*