Solitary Occult Retention Cysts of the Pancreas

Eight patients with long standing intermittent abdominal pain were found to have solitary cysts in the head of the pancreas. These cysts were demonstrated by retrograde pancreatography but could not be either visualized or palpated at operation. In only two cases was there sufficient clinical evidence to make a diagnosis of pancreatitis; in the remaining six the demonstration of a cyst was the first evidence of any abnormality that could account for their symptoms. All patients were treated by sphincteroplasty. Biopsy of the ampulla revealed fibrosis or inflammation in four of the seven patients in whom biopsy was performed. There was one postoperative death, and there has been little discernible relief in the case associated with alcoholism. The remaining six patients have had symptomatic relief for one to five years.