title: Intrapancreatic accessory spleen diagnosed on radionuclide imaging.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Service de Biophysique et de Médecine nucléaire, AP-HP hôpital Bicêtre and University Paris-Sud, France.
authors.forename: Sara Melboucy
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Belkhir
authors.forename: Frédérique
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Archambaud
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prigent
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaumet-Riffaud
mesh_terms: 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