Gastric fundal heterotopic pancreas mimicking a gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST): a case report and a brief review

Gastric ectopic pancreas in magnetic resonance imaging: A review of 2 cases

Gastric ectopic pancreas (EP) is an uncommon congenital anomaly in which pancreatic tissue with no anatomic connection to the main pancreas is found in the stomach. Gastric EP is often discovered incidentally when a nonspecific submucosal tumor is found in endoscopic studies or other imaging examinations. Tissue characterization by biopsy or fine-needle aspiration is required as endoscopic findings alone cannot exclude malignancy. The authors present 2 cases of gastric EP incidentally detected on endoscopy, which underwent further characterization by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In both cases, MRI showed submucosal gastric lesions, isointense to the orthotopic pancreas in all sequences, including hyperintensity on T1-weighted images. Furthermore, the lesions showed bright arterial phase enhancement, paralleling the native pancreas. MRI may provide the best non-invasive imaging method for evaluating gastric submucosal lesions. This report intends to show that EP shows a characteristic MR appearance that allows differentiation from other submucosal lesions.

Ectopic pancreatic tissue in stomach: A case report

Introduction and importance

Ectopic Pancreas (EP) is a rare condition that is mostly found in the Gastrointestinal tract and especially in the stomach. Although the lesion is mainly asymptomatic, non-specific symptoms can be present, making the diagnosis even more challenging.

Case presentation

In our case a 52-year-old woman, with heartburn as the only symptom, was undergone successive examinations, indicating a subepithelial lesion in the antrum of the stomach, from which only Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) indicated the presence of ectopic pancreas, while Computed Tomography results considered the mass as Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor. Wedge gastrectomy was performed in order to extract the lesion and the histopathological examination confirmed the findings of the MRI. The patient fully recovered with no complications.

Clinical discussion

In most cases, EP is described in endoscopy as a subepithelial mass with normal mucosa. As EP can mimic other subepithelial masses, even adenocarcinoma, it is of utmost importance not to omit the performance of surgical removal and histopathological examination. Consequently, resection is essential not only for the diagnosis but also for the treatment of the patient.

Conclusion

EP is not a usually detected clinical pathology. There is no specific algorithm, which physicians should follow in order to reach the diagnosis without the surgical intervention. For this reason, clinicians should be conscious of the existence of EP in the stomach.

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Ectopic pancreas (EP) is mostly found in the gastrointestinal tract.

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EP in stomach first considered as a Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST).

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Resection is essential for the diagnosis and for the treatment of the patient.

Clinical classification of symptomatic heterotopic pancreas of the stomach and duodenum: A case series and systematic literature review

BACKGROUND

Heterotopic pancreas (HP) is an aberrant anatomic malformation that occurs most commonly in the upper gastrointestinal tract. While the majority of heterotopic pancreatic lesions are asymptomatic, many manifest severe clinical symptoms which require surgical or endoscopic intervention. Understanding of the clinical manifestations and symptoms of HP is limited due to the lack of large volume studies in the literature. The purpose of this study is to review symptomatic cases at a single center and compare these to a systematic review of the literature in order to characterize common clinical manifestations and treatment of this disease.

AIM

To classify the common clinical manifestations of heterotopic pancreas.

METHODS

A retrospective review was conducted of pathologic samples containing heterotopic pancreas from 2000-2018. Review was limited to HP of the upper gastrointestinal tract due to the frequency of presentation in this location. Symptomatic patients were identified from review of the medical records and clinical symptoms were tabulated. These were compared to a systematic review of the literature utilizing PubMed and Embase searches for papers pertaining to heterotopic pancreas. Publications describing symptomatic presentation of HP were selected for review. Information including demographics, symptoms, presentation and treatment were compiled and analyzed.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine patient were identified with HP at a single center, with six of these identified has having clinical symptoms. Clinical manifestations included, gastrointestinal bleeding, gastric ulceration with/without perforation, pancreatitis, and gastric outlet obstruction. Systemic review of the literature yielded 232 publications detailing symptomatic cases with only 20 studies describing ten or more patients. Single and multi-patient studies were combined to form a cohort of 934 symptomatic patients. The majority of patients presented with abdominal pain (67%) combined with one of the following clinical categories: (1) Dyspepsia, (n = 445, 48%); (2) Pancreatitis (n = 260, 28%); (3) Gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 80, 9%); and (4) Gastric outlet obstruction (n = 80, 9%). The majority of cases (n = 832, 90%) underwent surgical or endoscopic resection with 85% reporting resolution or improvement in their symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Heterotopic pancreas can cause significant clinical symptoms in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Better understanding and classification of this disease may result in more accurate identification and treatment of this malformation.

Ectopic pancreas appearing as a giant gastric cyst mimicking gastric lymphangioma: a case report and a brief review

Background

Ectopic pancreas (EP) is defined as pancreatic tissue that lacks anatomical or vascular communication with the normal body of the pancreas. Despite improvements in diagnostic endoscopy and imaging studies, differentiating ectopic pancreatic tissue from gastric submucosal diseases remains a challenge.

Case presentation

Here, we present a case of a 44-year-old woman with severe epigastric pain. Initially, gastric lymphangioma was highly suspected due to a well-demarcated protruding mass with a large size that occurred in the submucosal layer of the gastric antrum and appeared as a cystic lesion. The final correct diagnosis of gastric EP was made during surgery.

Conclusion

Gastric EP with serous oligocystic adenoma appearing as a giant gastric cyst is extremely rare. The difficulty of making an accurate diagnosis and differential diagnosis is highlighted, which may provide additional clinical experience for the diagnosis of EP with serous oligocystic adenoma in the stomach.

CT differentiation of gastric ectopic pancreas from gastric stromal tumor

Background

Gastric ectopic pancreas (GEPs) is a rare developmental anomaly which is difficult to differentiate it from submucosal tumor such as gastric stromal tumor (GST) by imaging methods. Since the treatments of the GEPs and GST are totally different, a correct diagnosis is essential. Therefore, we retrospectively investigated the CT features of them to help us deepen the understanding of GEPs and GST.

Methods

This study enrolled 17 GEPs and 119 GST, which were proven pathologically. We assessed clinical and CT features to identify significant differential features of GEPs from GST using univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results

In univariate analysis, among all clinicoradiologic features, features of age, symptom, tumor marker, location, contour, peritumoral infiltration or fat-line of peritumor, necrosis, calcification, CT attenuation value of unenhancement phase/arterial phase/portal venous phase (CTu/CTa/CTp), the CT attenuation value of arterial phase/portal venous phase minus that of unenhanced phase (DEAP/DEPP), long diameter (LD), short diameter (SD) were considered statistically significant for the differentiation of them. And the multivariate analysis revealed that location, peritumoral infiltration or fat-line of peritumor, necrosis and DEPP were independent factors affecting the identification of them. In addition, ROC analysis showed that the test efficiency of CTp was perfect (AUC = 0.900).

Conclusion

Location, the presence of peritumoral infiltration or fat-line of peritumor, necrosis and DEPP are useful CT differentiators of GEPs from GST. In addition, the test efficiency of CTp in differentiating them was perfect (AUC = 0.900).

Incidental Jejunal Lesion Necessitating Intraoperative Change of Plan During Bariatric Surgery: a Video Case Report

Incidental gastric and small bowel lesions are commonly encountered during bariatric surgery. Resection of these lesions with negative margins in the same sitting is curative; however, this may necessitate intraoperative change of plan. We present a 44-year-old super obese lady in whom an exophytic jejunal mass was found at 80 cm from the ligament of Treitz, which necessitated a change of procedure from one anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB) to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). The final pathology was ectopic pancreatic tissue. Running the small bowel during initial diagnostic laparoscopy should be a routine step before division of stomach, to avoid technical complexities when operative plan is changed in order to resect an incidentaloma. Bariatric surgeons should be well versed with all the standard bariatric procedures.

Unexpected Gastric Ectopic Pancreas During Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Case Report

Patient: Female, 30-year-old

Final Diagnosis: Gastric ectopic pancreas

Symptoms: —

Medication: —

Clinical Procedure: Laparscopic sleeve gastrectomy

Specialty: Surgery

A case of gastric heterotopic pancreas with gastroduodenal invagination

BACKGROUND

Heterotopic pancreas (HP) is a rare disease commonly found incidentally on imaging studies, at endoscopy or at autopsy and can be associated with abdominal pain, vomiting, heart burn, gastric outlet obstruction, and even dysphagia in very rare cases. Heinrich's classified HP into three groups, types1-3, with Heinrich's type 3 HP the rarest and difficult to diagnose properly because it has only pancreatic ducts but has no islet and acini. The aim of this study is to report a case of gastric outlet obstruction caused by type 3 HP with gastroduodenal invagination with reference to the literature and diagnosed finally by immuno-histochemical analysis.

CASE PRESENTATION

The case presented is a 40-year-old male presenting with vomiting and abdominal pain. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a cystic mass in the upper abdomen and he was referred to the Tokushima University. Gastric fiber showed that the pedunculated mass originated from the stomach. An open distal gastrectomy was performed. Pathologically, there was small glands proliferation in the sub-mucosal (SM) layer which was membrane and cytoplasm (MUC)1 positive and muscle proliferation.

RESULTS

This finding revealed the tumor as HP. Postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged 12 days after surgery. The patient has remained well 12 months after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

HP should be considered in the differential diagnosis of SM tumors with gastroduodenal invagination even if this is a rare symptom.

Gastric heterotopic pancreas and stromal tumors smaller than 3 cm in diameter: clinical and computed tomography findings

BACKGROUND

Identifying gastric heterotopic pancreas and stromal tumors is difficult. Few studies have reported computed tomography (CT) findings for differentiating lesions less than 3 cm in diameter. In this study, we aimed to identify clinical characteristics and CT findings that can differentiate gastric heterotopic pancreatic lesions from stromal tumors less than 3 cm in diameter.

METHODS

A total of 132 patients with pathologically confirmed gastric heterotopic pancreas (n = 66) and stromal tumors (n = 66) were included. Each group was divided into primary (n = 50) and validation cohort (n = 16). Clinical characteristics and CT findings were retrospectively reviewed. CT findings included location, border, contour, growth pattern, enhancement pattern and grade, the enhancement value of tumor, enhancement ratio of tumor, and enhancement ratio of tumor to pancreas in venous phase. The findings in the two groups were compared using the Pearson χ² test or Student t-test. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to determine areas under the curve and optimal cut-offs.

RESULTS

Significant differences were observed between heterotopic pancreas and stromal tumors in the distribution of tumor location, border, contour (all P < 0.001), enhancement values (P < 0.001), enhancement ratios of tumors (P < 0.001), and enhancement ratios of tumors to pancreas (P < 0.001). No significant differences existed in growth pattern (P = 0.203). The area under the curve differed significantly between enhancement ratio of tumor to pancreas and enhancement ratio (P = 0.030). There were significant differences in above characteristics between two groups in validation cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

Heterotopic pancreas has characteristic CT features differentiating it from stromal tumors.

Ectopic pancreas in the upper gastrointestinal tract: Is endosonographic diagnosis reliable? Data from the German Endoscopic Ultrasound Registry and review of the literature

Background:

Ectopic pancreas (EP) belongs to the most frequent subepithelial lesions (SELs) of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In the majority of cases, it is detected incidentally. Differential diagnosis from mesenchymal subepithelial tumors may be difficult.

Methods:

Among 24,308 endosonographic examinations and interventions, which were prospectively enrolled in the database of the German Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) Registry from January 2009 to August 2013, 575 were performed for suspected SELs of the upper GI tract. Sixty three cases of EP of the upper GI tract (stomach, n = 53; duodenum, n = 10; esophagus, n = 0) were extracted and retrospectively reviewed.

Results:

In 65.1% of cases, radial echoendoscopes or radial miniprobes were used for examination. Nearly 84% of EP was found in the stomach, 16% in the duodenum, none in the esophagus. In 88.9% of cases, the EUS examination discerned the layer of origin. In 59% of cases EP was described as a heterogeneous, in 28.6% as a homogeneous-hypoechoic and in 7.9% as a homogeneous-echogenic subepithelial mass lesion. Mean diameter was 13.0 mm × 8.1 mm, the mean ratio between long and short axis diameter was 1.75. EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) was used to accomplish cytological or histological diagnosis in only 6.3% of cases.

Conclusions:

EP accounts for 11% of all EUS examinations performed for subepithelial lesions of the upper GI tract and prospectively enrolled in the German EUS registry. Rather than being an eyecatcher, EP is a chameleon with numerous differential diagnoses. In selected cases, EUS-FNA may help clarifying the diagnosis.

Heterotopic pancreatic tissue of the stomach leading to gastric diverticulum and upper gastro-intestinal bleeding

Heterotopic pancreatic tissue of the stomach is a rare condition. Gastric diverticulum is also a rare condition, mostly located at the fornix. Therefore, the existence of a pyloric gastric diverticulum containing a submucosal tumor proved to be heterotopic pancreatic tissue of the stomach is an extremely rare condition. The patient was a young thin male with epigastralgia chronically treated for gastritis/ulcer. Following an episode of melena, he underwent gastroscopy that diagnosed antral gastric diverticulum containing a polyp. The lesion was surgically removed. The pathology report stated: heterotopic pancreatic tissue of the stomach with secondary development of a traction diverticulum. Heterotopic pancreas tissue of the stomach is a rare condition but the association with gastric diverticulum is completely unusual. The possibility of the ectopic tissue leading to secondary diverticulum development should be considered.