Intrapancreatic accessory spleen diagnosed on radionuclide imaging.
Intrapancreatic accessory spleen (IPAS) is ectopic splenic tissue distinct from the main spleen. A 46-year-old man with chronic hepatitis C, presented in 2006 with low right chest pain which led to a diagnosis of tuberculosis pleurisy. CT scan and MRI showed a round, homogenous, well limited mass of 3cm in the pancreas tail. Tc-99m heat-damaged red blood cell scintigraphy with SPECT-CT was performed to confirm the diagnosis of IPAS. Most cases of IPAS described in the literature were diagnosed by pathologists after distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy performed for a suspicion of pancreatic tumor. However, heat-damaged red blood cell scintigraphy remains the most commonly used diagnostic procedure for IPAS, even if superparamagnetic iron oxide MRI contrast agent may be used in the future.
Belkhir
Sara Melboucy
SM
Service de Biophysique et de Médecine nucléaire, AP-HP hôpital Bicêtre and University Paris-Sud, France.
Archambaud
Frédérique
F
Prigent
Alain
A
Chaumet-Riffaud
Philippe
P
D002828:Choristoma / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed