"Mimics" of pancreatic carcinoma: Pseudotumors of the pancreatic head

As seen on ultrasound, CT and MRI, pancreatic carcinoma typically presents as a focally enlarged mass in the pancreas and/or dilatation of the main pancreatic duct. Some other solid, tumor-like lesions in the pancreatic head may have similar imaging findings and be indistinguishable from pancreatic carcinoma. We retrospectively review the patients who have the solid, tumor-like lesions at pancreatic head in our hospital in recent years. In this article, we herein report four cases of four different etiologies. The etiologies of these lesions in the pancreatic head include inflammatory and infectious diseases, congenital anomaly, and lymphoproliferative processes. The causes and the imaging findings of these lesions are depicted. Because the distinctive diagnosis between pseudotumors and pancreatic head carcinoma is difficult, clinical information, imaging examination and histopathologic examination should combine together for elucidating the nature of the masses in the pancreatic head.