Abstract
The term "microcystic adenoma" of the pancreas has gained nearly universal acceptance among pathologists owing to the characteristic gross and microscopic features of this tumor. The possible existence of macrocystic variants of serous cystadenoma has been largely ignored in the literature. We report five cases of macrocystic serous cystadenoma of the pancreas, two of which were of the unilocular type. These tumors exhibited distinctly different macroscopic features from microcystic adenoma, which created diagnostic difficulties for both the radiologist and pathologist. Computed tomography scans on all five cases were thought to represent either mucinous cystic neoplasms or pseudocysts and the tumors were misclassified in two of three cases on which intraoperative frozen sections were performed. In our opinion, microcystic and macrocystic serous tumors represent morphologic variants of the same benign pancreatic neoplasm and we suggest that the term "serous cystadenoma" be used to encompass all variants of this benign neoplasm.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 871-875 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Human Pathology |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1992 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- glycogen-rich adenoma
- microcystic adenoma
- pancreas tumors
- serous cystadenoma
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine