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
Case Reports
. 2023 Sep 12:11:2050313X231200289.
doi: 10.1177/2050313X231200289. eCollection 2023.

Misdiagnosis of pancreatic tuberculosis as a pancreatic cystic neoplasm - A case report

Kasun Lakmal  1 , Umesh Jayarajah  1 , Minidu Ravinda Chandraguptha  1 , Malith Nandasena  1 , Aloka Pathirana  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Misdiagnosis of pancreatic tuberculosis as a pancreatic cystic neoplasm - A case report

Kasun Lakmal et al. SAGE Open Med Case Rep. .

Abstract

Pancreatic tuberculosis is an extremely rare condition. Its non-specific clinical and radiological findings resemble pancreatic malignancy. Here, we report a case of pancreatic tuberculosis that presented with abdominal pain and dyspeptic symptoms for 2 months and was misdiagnosed as a pancreatic cystic neoplasm. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging showed a well-demarcated exophytic lesion with multiple T2 high signals small cystic areas in the anterior superior part of the head of the pancreas measuring 23 × 20 × 28 mm. This patient has undergone laparotomy and excision of the pancreatic mass. Histological examination revealed granulomatous inflammation of a lymph node with caseation, which was pathognomonic of tuberculosis. She was treated for tuberculosis for 6 months and has become symptom free. The diagnosis of pancreatic tuberculosis could be misleading and should be considered when dealing with pancreatic masses in countries with high incidence.

Keywords: pancreatic neoplasm; pancreatic tuberculosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Computed tomography (a) magnetic resonance imaging (b) scans showing a well-demarcated exophytic lesion in the anterior superior part of the head of the pancreas measuring 23 × 20 × 28 mm.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Surgical specimen and histopathological features of pancreatic tuberculosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Rao RN, Pandey R, Rana MK, et al.. Pancreatic and peripancreatic tuberculosis presenting as hypoechoic mass and malignancy diagnosed by ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology. J Cytol 2013; 30: 130–135. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Woodfield JC, Windsor JA, Godfrey CC, et al.. Diagnosis and management of isolated pancreatic tuberculosis: recent experience and literature review. ANZ J Surg 2004; 74: 368–371. - PubMed
    1. Basnayake O, Wijerathne P, Jayarajah U, et al.. Total pancreatectomy for malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) complicated by gastropancreatic fistulae. Case Rep Surg 2020; 2020: 8547526. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Panic N, Maetzel H, Bulajic M, et al.. Pancreatic tuberculosis: a systematic review of symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. United European Gastroenterol J 2020; 8: 396–402. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Health Mo. National manual for tuberculosis control. In: Unit HIM. (ed.). Colombo, Sri Lanka: Ministry of Health, 2021, pp. 30–31.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources