title: Isolated pancreatic tuberculosis: a diagnostic challenge.
abstract: Abdominal tuberculosis is quite commonly found in miliary tuberculosis, especially in countries where TB is endemic, however the abdominal localization of tuberculosis in absence of disseminated disease is a rare condition and the involvement of the pancreas alone is extremely rare. Epidemiology of TB is changing in the latest years, often this illness is found in non-endemic regions and physicians are asked to interpret what happen when an old disease meets new diagnostic technologies. We describe the case of a young male admitted in our hospital for abdominal pain. Echotomography, CT scan and MRI showed a pancreatic mass suspected to be cancer and susceptible to surgical treatment, Endoscopic Ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) showed isolated pancreatic tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, Division of Emergency Surgery and Trauma, Umberto I General Hospital, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy. marco.assenza@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Assenza
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Simonelli
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Romeo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valesini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Centonze
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Modini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*