Giant haemorrhagic (pseudo)cyst of the pancreas of unknown aetiology

Abstract

Introduction. Cystic lesions of the pancreas are frequent. Most frequently their aetiology can be easily established. It is very rare that the nature and aetiology of these lesions cannot be reliably established. Case Outline. A 40-year-old male without trauma, alcohol abuse, acute or chronic pancreatitis in illness history was successfully operated on for a haemorrhagic (pseudo)cyst of the back wall of the pancreas tail containing 4.5 litres of haemorrhagic content. The cyst did not contain either epithelium or tumour stroma, and the pancreas did not show any changes of acute or chronic pancreatitis. Hystology did not show signs of angiectatic pseudocyst. Conclusion. In spite of all efforts, the authors could not establish the real nature of the (pseudo)cyst of the pancreas or find a similar case described in the literature. Nevertheless, the authors believe that it was probably an angiectatic cyst.

Keywords

• pancreas
• haemorrhagic (pseudo)cyst
• excision
• unknown aetiology