Intrapancreatic accessory spleen diagnosed on radionuclide imaging

Clin Nucl Med. 2009 Sep;34(9):642-4. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0b013e3181b06b42.

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.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Choristoma / complications
  • Choristoma / diagnostic imaging*
  • Hepatitis C, Chronic / complications
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pancreatic Diseases / complications
  • Pancreatic Diseases / diagnostic imaging*
  • Spleen / diagnostic imaging*
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed