Epithelial Cysts in the Intrapancreatic Accessory Spleen that Clinically Mimic Pancreatic Cystic Tumor: A Report of Two Cases

ABSTRACT

Cystic lesions in the accessory spleen are extremely rare and they present a challenging clinical differential diagnosis. We report here on two cases of epithelial cyst of intrapancreatic accessory spleen that mimicked pancreatic cystic tumor. In both cases, the patients underwent distal pancreatectomy under the impression of a benign cystic tumor of the pancreas. Unilocular or multilocular cysts in the pancreas tail were observed, and these were later shown to be epithelial cysts in the accessory spleen located within the pancreatic tail. The cysts were lined by columnar, cuboidal or stratified squamous epithelium.