title: Pancreatic hamartoma.
abstract: Pancreatic hamartoma is a rare benign lesion and may be mistaken for a malignancy, as demonstrated by two cases. The first case was a 29-year-old man who presented with a 7-month history of intermittent upper abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting and a 15-kg weight loss. CT and MRI revealed a mass in the head of the pancreas. The second case was a 62-year-old man who presented with a 2-year history of intermittent abdominal pain, vomiting and a 25-kg weight loss. Although positron emission tomography was normal, CT revealed thickening of the duodenal wall and endoluminal ultrasonography revealed a tumour in the head of the pancreas. Both patients recovered from uneventful Kausch-Whipple pancreatoduodenectomy (in the first patient, it was pylorus-preserving), and in each case the histological diagnosis was hamartoma. Pancreatic hamartoma can present with vague, non-specific symptoms which, despite modern diagnostic tools, can be difficult to diagnose. Surgical resection with histopathological examination is required to confirm the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: McFaul
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Vitone
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Azadeh
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Garvey
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghaneh
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Neoptolemos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006222:Hamartoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D016577:Pancreaticoduodenectomy; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome