Abstract

GOMEZ, Martín  and  OTERO, William. Cystic lesions of the pancreas. Diagnosis and Treatment. Rev Col Gastroenterol [online]. 2006, vol.21, n.3, pp.215-224. ISSN 0120-9957.

With the upcoming of new diagnostic methods, we are facing more frequently patients with cystic lesions of the pancreas. These lesions can show up as an incidental finding or related directly to their symptoms; since these lesions can have a malignant potential it is very important to know how to study these patients and to decide the most appropriate treatment. The objective of this article is to make a review based on the current evidence taking as an example a real clinical case to illustrate the most appropriate way to focus a patient with a cystic lesion of the pancreas. The first step is to determine if the patient presents a pseudocyst or a true cyst of the pancreas, if a pseudocyst is discarded it should be evaluated if the patient is symptomatic and if he/she is a good surgical candidate, in which case the surgery of the cyst would be suitable; otherwise an abdominal TAC should be carried out, if the lesion is compatible with a serous cyst the evaluation can finish in this point and the patient should be follow up in one year, if not an endosonography should be done. If in the endosonography there are typical characteristics of a serous cyst, the evaluation can stop in this point and the patient should be follow up in one year with the same study, but if one suspects another lesion, a fine-needle aspiration biopsy should be done to discard a malignant or premalignant lesion

Keywords : Cyst of the pancreas; endosonography; pseudocyst; serous cyst.

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