Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 16, 2022; 10(8): 2504-2509
Published online Mar 16, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i8.2504
Retroperitoneal congenital epidermoid cyst misdiagnosed as a solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas: A case report
Jun Ma, Ya-Ming Zhang, Chao-Ping Zhou, Lei Zhu
Jun Ma, Ya-Ming Zhang, Chao-Ping Zhou, Lei Zhu, Department of Surgical Oncology, Anqing Municipal Hospital, Anqing 246000, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: Ma J wrote and edited the original draft; Zhu L contributed to data collection and analysis; Zhou CP reviewed the literature, Zhang YM reviewed and approved the final manuscript; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ya-Ming Zhang, MD, Chief Doctor, Surgeon, Surgical Oncologist, Department of Surgical Oncology, Anqing Municipal Hospital, No. 352 Ren-Ming Road, Anqing 246000, Anhui Province, China. zhangyaming2014@163.com
Received: July 24, 2021
Peer-review started: July 26, 2021
First decision: October 22, 2021
Revised: October 30, 2021
Accepted: January 29, 2022
Article in press: January 29, 2022
Published online: March 16, 2022
Processing time: 229 Days and 16.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Retroperitoneal cysts are rare and usually asymptomatic abdominal lesions. Epidermoid cysts are frequent benign cutaneous tumors, but retroperitoneal localization of these cysts does not occur very often.

CASE SUMMARY

We report a case report of a 25-year-old woman with a giant mass in the abdominal cavity. Because imaging examination indicated that the mass probably originated from the pancreas, the mass was considered a solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas (SPTP). However, surgery revealed a retroperitoneal epidermoid cyst located behind the pancreas neck and the root of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA). We performed complete resection of the tumor. Postoperative pathology showed an epidermoid cyst. The patient fared well after two months of follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Surgery is the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of retroperitoneal epidermoid cysts. Retroperitoneal epidermoid cysts around the pancreas are easily misdiagnosed as cystic SPTPs. Surgeons should pay particular attention to preoperative diagnosis to reduce severe surgical complications and improve the quality of life of patients.

Keywords: Epidermoid cysts; Retroperitoneal tumor; Solid pseudopapillary tumor of pancreas; Surgery; Case report

Core Tip: Retroperitoneal cysts are rare and usually asymptomatic abdominal lesions. Epidermoid cysts are frequent benign cutaneous tumors, but retroperitoneal localization of these cysts does not occur very often. Surgery is the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of retroperitoneal epidermoid cysts. Epidermoid cysts around the pancreas are easily misdiagnosed as cystic solid pseudopapillary tumors of the pancreas (SPTPs). Because of the different biological characteristics of retroperitoneal epidermoid cysts and SPTPs and the different surgical methods used for their treatment, surgeons should pay particular attention to preoperative diagnosis to reduce severe surgical complications and improve the quality of life of patients.