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
. 2018 May;10(5):370-375.
doi: 10.14740/jocmr3344w. Epub 2018 Mar 16.

The Main Anatomical Variations of the Pancreatic Duct System: Review of the Literature and Its Importance in Surgical Practice

Ioannis Dimitriou  1   2 , Anastasios Katsourakis  3 , Eirini Nikolaidou  3 , George Noussios  2
Affiliations
Review

The Main Anatomical Variations of the Pancreatic Duct System: Review of the Literature and Its Importance in Surgical Practice

Ioannis Dimitriou et al. J Clin Med Res. 2018 May.

Abstract

Anatomical variations or anomalies of the pancreatic ducts are important in the planning and performance of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and surgical procedures of the pancreas. Normal pancreatic duct anatomy occurs in approximately 94.3% of cases, and multiple variations have been described for the remaining 5.7%. The purpose of this study was to review the literature on the pancreatic duct anatomy and to underline its importance in daily invasive endoscopic and surgical practice. Two main databases were searched for suitable articles published from 2000 to 2017, and results concerning more than 8,200 patients were included in the review. The most common anatomical variation was that of pancreas divisum, which appeared in approximately 4.5% of cases.

Keywords: Anatomic; Anatomy; Anomalies; Pancreatic duct; Variations.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they do not have any conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Drawings showing different types of pancreatic duct configuration.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of the literature research.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic presentation of the presence of the pancreatic duct types.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic presentation of the percentages of pancreas divisum types.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Arora A, Rajesh S, Mukund A, Patidar Y, Thapar S, Arora A, Bhatia V. Clinicoradiological appraisal of ‘paraduodenal pancreatitis’: Pancreatitis outside the pancreas! Indian J Radiol Imaging. 2015;25(3):303–314. doi: 10.4103/0971-3026.161467. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Turkvatan A, Erden A, Turkoglu MA, Yener O. Congenital variants and anomalies of the pancreas and pancreatic duct: imaging by magnetic resonance cholangiopancreaticography and multidetector computed tomography. Korean J Radiol. 2013;14(6):905–913. doi: 10.3348/kjr.2013.14.6.905. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. De Filippo M, Calabrese M, Quinto S, Rastelli A, Bertellini A, Martora R, Sverzellati N. et al. Congenital anomalies and variations of the bile and pancreatic ducts: magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography findings, epidemiology and clinical significance. Radiol Med. 2008;113(6):841–859. doi: 10.1007/s11547-008-0298-x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adibelli ZH, Adatepe M, Imamoglu C, Esen OS, Erkan N, Yildirim M. Anatomic variations of the pancreatic duct and their relevance with the Cambridge classification system: MRCP findings of 1158 consecutive patients. Radiol Oncol. 2016;50(4):370–377. doi: 10.1515/raon-2016-0041. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bulow R, Simon P, Thiel R, Thamm P, Messner P, Lerch MM, Mayerle J. et al. Anatomic variants of the pancreatic duct and their clinical relevance: an MR-guided study in the general population. Eur Radiol. 2014;24(12):3142–3149. doi: 10.1007/s00330-014-3359-7. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources