Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2008 Nov 28;14(44):6873-5.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.6873.

Cystic lymphangioma of the pancreas

Radoje B Colovic  1 , Nikica M Grubor, Marjan T Micev, Henry Dushan E Atkinson, Vitomir I Rankovic, Mihajlo M Jagodic
Affiliations
Review

Cystic lymphangioma of the pancreas

Radoje B Colovic et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Lymphangioma of the pancreas is an extremely rare benign tumour of lymphatic origin, with fewer than 60 published cases. Histologically, it is polycystic, with the cysts separated by thin septa and lined with endothelial cells. Though congenital, it can affect all age groups, and occurs more frequently in females. Patients usually present with epigastric pain and an associated palpable mass. Complete excision is curative, even though, depending on the tumour location, surgery may be simple or involve extensive pancreatic resection and anastomoses. The authors present a 49-year-old woman in whom a polycystic septated mass, 35 mm multiply 35 mm in size, was discovered by ultrasonography (US) in the body of the pancreas during investigations for epigastric pain and nausea. At surgery, a well circumscribed polycystic tumor was completely excised, with preservation of the pancreatic duct. The postoperative recovery was uneventful. Histology confirmed a microcystic lymphangioma of the pancreas. Immunohistochemistry showed cystic endothelial cells reactivity to factor VIII-RA (++), CD31 (+++) and CD34 (-). Postoperatively, abdominal pain disappeared and the patient remained symptom free for 12 mo until now. Although extremely rare, lymphangioma of the pancreas should be taken into consideration as a differential diagnosis of a pancreatic cystic lesion, especially in women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A well-circumscribed 35 mm polycystic lesion in the body of the pancreas, with thin septa within the lesion. A: US scan demonstrating the polycystic tumour of the body of the pancreas; B: CT scan showing the cystic tumour with fine septa.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Tumour surrounded by normal pancreatic tissue. A: The excised polycystic mass; B: The tumour after sectioning.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Microscopically all the sections (HE stain). A: Vascular spaces of the pancreatic cystic Lymphangioma containing predominantly clear fluid with few erythrocytes or lymphocytes (× 13); B: The cysts and dilated lymphatics in the surrounding pancreatic tissue are lined with a thin endothelial layer (× 64).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Gray G, Fried K, Iraci J. Cystic lymphangioma of the pancreas: CT and pathologic findings. Abdom Imaging. 1998;23:78–80. - PubMed
    1. Khandelwal M, Lichtenstein GR, Morris JB, Furth EE, Long WB. Abdominal lymphangioma masquerading as a pancreatic cystic neoplasm. J Clin Gastroenterol. 1995;20:142–144. - PubMed
    1. Kullendorff CM, Malmgren N. Cystic abdominal lymphangioma in children. Case report. Eur J Surg. 1993;159:499–501. - PubMed
    1. Leung TK, Lee CM, Shen LK, Chen YY. Differential diagnosis of cystic lymphangioma of the pancreas based on imaging features. J Formos Med Assoc. 2006;105:512–517. - PubMed
    1. Gui L, Bigler SA, Subramony C. Lymphangioma of the pancreas with "ovarian-like" mesenchymal stroma: a case report with emphasis on histogenesis. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2003;127:1513–1516. - PubMed