scholarly journals Management Guidelines for Pancreatic Cystic Lesions: Should we Adopt or Adapt the Current Roadmaps?

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filipe Vilas-Boas ◽  
Guilherme Macedo

Pancreatic cystic lesions are very prevalent, especially in elderly patients and are increasingly being diagnosed because of the massive use of cross sectional imaging. Our knowledge about the natural history of these lesions is limited, especially in the case of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms. This fact explains why scientific societies guidelines statements are based on evidence graded as very low quality and helps the understanding of some of the different guidelines recommendations. Several guidelines have been recently revised to incorporate the new evidence published in the literature with the aim to help clinicians make the best decisions. American Gastroenterological Association guidelines, a revision of the International Consensus Guidelines, the American College of Gastroenterology and the European Study Group guidelines are the most recent. Herein we review the current guidelines on pancreatic cysts and focus our discussion on controversies and updates about the best imaging modalities, the indications for endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration, cyst fluid analysis, indications for resection and surveillance strategies.

2018 ◽  
Vol 09 (01) ◽  
pp. 001-005
Author(s):  
Krishnan Kumar ◽  
Omer Anam ◽  
Raza Ali ◽  
Miller A Ross ◽  
Mody R Dina ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: Asymptomatic pancreatic cysts are frequently diagnosed on cross-sectional imaging. Recently, the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has put forth guidelines regarding management of these cysts. To date, there is no strong data to indicate whether these guidelines will accurately identify malignancy and mitigate unnecessary endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) procedures. The aim of this investigation was to apply the 2015 AGA guidelines to a retrospective cohort of asymptomatic pancreatic cysts in a large regional referral center. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with asymptomatic pancreatic cysts who underwent EUS with fine-needle aspiration (FNA) over a 3-year period. We applied current AGA guidelines to determine how many EUS procedures would be avoided, and further assessed whether the guidelines adequately identified cases of malignancy. Results: Forty-five patients were identified who underwent EUS FNA for an asymptomatic pancreatic cyst from 2011 to 2014. The mean age was 65 years, and the mean size cyst size was 2.8 cm. According to the 2015 AGA guidelines, EUS was indicated in 13 of the 45 patients and surveillance imaging in the remaining 32 patients. 3 of these 32 patients had atypical cytology on EUS FNA, and final histology showed adenocarcinoma in 2 patients and IMPN with high-grade dysplasia in 1 patient. Conclusion: Applying AGA guidelines in this study cohort would have prevented 32 out of 45 (71%) EUS procedures; however, 3 of these 32 patients had early occult malignancy. This data suggest that additional strategies are needed to identify those patients at high risk.


2020 ◽  
Vol 06 (02) ◽  
pp. e128-e130
Author(s):  
Shiva Poola ◽  
Shachar Laks ◽  
Peter Kragel ◽  
Kara Regan

AbstractIncidentally discovered pancreatic cysts have become more common with increasing use of abdominal cross-sectional imaging. Tools that help us to better risk stratify a pancreatic cyst include advanced imaging techniques, such as pancreatic protocol computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with cholangiopancreatography. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and fine-needle aspiration (FNA) are invasive measures to better define and sample cysts especially if high-risk features are present. EUS may also yield pancreatic cyst fluid for analysis of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) which is elevated in mucinous cysts. This case highlights a rare finding of a mucinous, epidermoid cyst in an intrapancreatic accessory spleen (IPAS) with high-risk features on EUS.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen de Jong ◽  
Marco J. Bruno ◽  
Paul Fockens

Although little is known on the true prevalence of pancreatic cysts, physicians are currently more frequently confronted with pancreatic cysts because of the increasing use of sophisticated cross-sectional abdominal imaging. Cystic lesions of the pancreas comprise of a heterogeneous group of diagnostic entities, some of which are benign such as inflammatory pseudocysts or serous cystadenomas and do not require resection when asymptomatic. Others like mucinous cysts or intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN) have a malignant potential and in these cases surgical resection is often indicated. For this reason an adequate distinction between the various cysts is crucial to optimize management strategy. Different diagnostic methods that could be of value in the differentiation include radiologic imaging techniques such as CT, MR, and endosonography. In addition, fluid aspiration for cytopathology, tumormarkers or molecular analysis is widely used. Different guidelines are available but so far no optimal diagnostic algorithm exists. We summarize the epidemiology, classification, clinical presentation, diagnostics, management, and future perspectives.


2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Sand ◽  
I. Nordback

The number of small and often asymptomatic cystic lesions detected in pancreas has increased during the last decade. Historically the vast majority of the pancreatic cystic lesions were considered pseudocysts, but in recent series the incidence of various neoplastic cysts, such as intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm, serous cystadenomas and cystic endocrine tumours, has increased. The possible malignant potential in these cystic neoplasms warrants careful diagnostic workup to choose the optimal treatment for each patient. Patient's age, symptoms and a possible history of acute or chronic pancreatitis with known aetiology together with high quality imaging studies are important in the differential diagnosis between pseudocysts and neoplastic cysts. Endoscopic ultrasound, cyst fluid analysis and positron emission tomography may be used in selected patients, but the accuracy of these methods needs further investigation.


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