2023 Volume 82 Issue 1 Pages 61-66
A 26-year-old man was admitted with a chief complaint of melena. An abdominal CT scan revealed a 40 mmdiameter tumor in the pancreatic head, while upper and lower endoscopy did not reveal the bleeding origin.Contrast-enhanced CT showed a well-enhanced mass located on the ventral side of the pancreas. As endoscopicultrasound confirmed rich arterial blood flow around the mass, fine needle biopsy could not be performed. Underthe tentative diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) or neuroendocrine tumor (NET), a pancreatoduodenectomy was performed. An elastic-hard 45 mm tumor was located at the ventral side of the pancreatic headand was compressed to the duodenum. Pathological examination revealed that round to oval or spindle-shapedatypical cells were growing in the stroma. Finally, an immunobiological study revealed a NET in the pancreas.Pancreatic NETs are relatively rare, accounting for approximately 2% of pancreatic tumors.
