History and admission findings: A 61-year-old man had been suffering from repeated episodes of postprandial vomiting and a feeling of fullness as well as a weight loss of 8 kg for two months. Three years prior to this, a laparoscopic cholecystectomy had been carried out at a different institution after a pancreatitis on the assumption of a biliary genesis. There were no sings of jaundice or gastro-intestinal bleeding. The physical examination was -- apart from epigastric pain -- unremarkable.
Investigations: The routine laboratory parameters and tumor markers were within normal range. Endoscopy revealed a thickened duodenal wall with a stenosis at the level of the papilla, and a tumorous mass in the duodenal bulb. The biopsy specimens gave no evidence of malignancy. The barium upper GI series revealed an excentric stenosis of the duodenal pars II. Computerized tomography showed no evidence for tumor growth extending beyond the wall or a pathologic enlargement of the adjacent lymph nodes.
Therapy and course: A pylorus-preserving partial duodenopancreatectomy was performed and the postoperative course was without any complications. The histological examination of the resectate showed -- besides a chronically fibrosing pancreatitis -- a hamartoma of the duodenal wall.
Conclusion: Besides the endoscopic removal of a hamartoma of the duodenum a surgical transduodenal resection represents the most frequently applied procedure. The partial duodenopancreatectomy is a rather rare therapeutic option. It was chosen in our patient on account of the atypical presentation of the tumor, unclear histology and an adequate operative risk.