CASE REPORT

JOP. J Pancreas (Online) 2003; 4(2):104-110.

Acute Pancreatitis Secondary to Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours

Pilar Griñó1, Juan Martínez1, Emilio Griñó1, Fernando Carnicer1, Sergio Alonso2, Helena Pérez-Berenguer3, Miguel Pérez-Mateo1

1Department of Gastroenterology, 2Service of Radiodiagnosis, 3Service of Pathology, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante. Alicante, Spain

Context Pancreatic neoplasms are an uncommon aetiology of acute pancreatitis. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours are a rare subgroup of pancreatic neoplasms.

Case report We report on three patients having acute pancreatitis secondary to pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, one of them with severe pancreatitis, and review the published cases up to now.

Only 22 patients with acute pancreatitis secondary to pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours have been reported (including the present cases). Most of these cases were of non-functioning neoplasms and the course of the pancreatitis tended to be mild. In the most recent reports and in the present cases, the initial diagnostic method was CT scan. Less than half had metastases when the tumour was diagnosed and mortality from these neoplasms reached approximately 50%.

Conclusions Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours can cause acute pancreatitis even in patients under 50 years of age. On many occasions, the tumours are non-functioning; therefore, acute pancreatitis may be the first clinical symptom. Consequently, faced with acute pancreatitis of unknown origin, a non-functioning neuroendocrine tumour should be ruled out.

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Key words Case Report; Digestive System Neoplasms; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neuroendocrine Tumors; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Pancreatitis; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing

Correspondence Juan Martínez: martinez_juasem@gva.es