The great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis

Background: Pancreatic tuberculosis is a rare clinical entity. It represents a diagnostic challenge as the clinical presentation may mimic pancreatic malignancy. Case presentation: A 66-year-old gentleman presented with an incidental finding of a pancreatic tail mass on routine ultrasonography of th...

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Main Authors: Kheng, Hooi Chan, Harivinthan Sellappan, Thanesh Kumar Maiyauen, Azlanudin Azman, Mohd Firdaus Mohd Hayati
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: Springer Nature 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33945/3/The%20great%20masquerader%20of%20pancreatic%20tuberculosis.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33945/1/The%20great%20masquerader%20of%20pancreatic%20tuberculosis%20_ABSTRACT.pdf
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author Kheng, Hooi Chan
Harivinthan Sellappan
Thanesh Kumar Maiyauen
Azlanudin Azman
Mohd Firdaus Mohd Hayati
author_facet Kheng, Hooi Chan
Harivinthan Sellappan
Thanesh Kumar Maiyauen
Azlanudin Azman
Mohd Firdaus Mohd Hayati
author_sort Kheng, Hooi Chan
collection UMS
description Background: Pancreatic tuberculosis is a rare clinical entity. It represents a diagnostic challenge as the clinical presentation may mimic pancreatic malignancy. Case presentation: A 66-year-old gentleman presented with an incidental finding of a pancreatic tail mass on routine ultrasonography of the abdomen whilst working up on chronic kidney disease. He denied abdominal pain, fever, night sweats, constitutional symptoms or tuberculosis contact. On examination, there was no palpable mass per abdomen. The tumour marker of Ca 19-9 was normal. Ultrasonography revealed a lobulated heterogeneous hypovascular and hypoechoic mass at the tail of the pancreas. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) of the thorax and abdomen revealed a thickened right pleura, right pleural effusion with right lung collapsed consolidation and multiple mediastinal lymph nodes. There is an ill-defined hypodense mass seen in the tail and body of the pancreas measuring 3 × 7 × 3 cm with the presences of calcification within. The constellation of CT findings suggests a pancreatic malignancy with metastasis to the lungs. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) assessment showed an irregular hypoechoic mass measuring 3.0 × 2.7 cm at the tail of the pancreas. Multiple rounded hypoechoic lesions were also seen scattered within the body of the pancreas with multiple enlarged para-aortic lymph nodes. A fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the lesion was consistent with granulomatous inflammation. The diagnosis of disseminated tuberculosis was made. The patient was subsequently started on antitubercular medication and recovered well. Conclusion: A high index of suspicion is needed to diagnose pancreatic tuberculosis, especially in patients whose radiological imaging shows a pancreatic mass with necrotic peripancreatic lymphadenopathy in endemic countries. EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration is the diagnostic modality of choice, and vigorous attempts should be made at obtaining a preoperative histological or bacteriological diagnosis to avoid unnecessary surgery.
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spelling ums.eprints-339452022-08-26T00:01:45Z https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33945/ The great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis Kheng, Hooi Chan Harivinthan Sellappan Thanesh Kumar Maiyauen Azlanudin Azman Mohd Firdaus Mohd Hayati RC306-320.5 Tuberculosis Background: Pancreatic tuberculosis is a rare clinical entity. It represents a diagnostic challenge as the clinical presentation may mimic pancreatic malignancy. Case presentation: A 66-year-old gentleman presented with an incidental finding of a pancreatic tail mass on routine ultrasonography of the abdomen whilst working up on chronic kidney disease. He denied abdominal pain, fever, night sweats, constitutional symptoms or tuberculosis contact. On examination, there was no palpable mass per abdomen. The tumour marker of Ca 19-9 was normal. Ultrasonography revealed a lobulated heterogeneous hypovascular and hypoechoic mass at the tail of the pancreas. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) of the thorax and abdomen revealed a thickened right pleura, right pleural effusion with right lung collapsed consolidation and multiple mediastinal lymph nodes. There is an ill-defined hypodense mass seen in the tail and body of the pancreas measuring 3 × 7 × 3 cm with the presences of calcification within. The constellation of CT findings suggests a pancreatic malignancy with metastasis to the lungs. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) assessment showed an irregular hypoechoic mass measuring 3.0 × 2.7 cm at the tail of the pancreas. Multiple rounded hypoechoic lesions were also seen scattered within the body of the pancreas with multiple enlarged para-aortic lymph nodes. A fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the lesion was consistent with granulomatous inflammation. The diagnosis of disseminated tuberculosis was made. The patient was subsequently started on antitubercular medication and recovered well. Conclusion: A high index of suspicion is needed to diagnose pancreatic tuberculosis, especially in patients whose radiological imaging shows a pancreatic mass with necrotic peripancreatic lymphadenopathy in endemic countries. EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration is the diagnostic modality of choice, and vigorous attempts should be made at obtaining a preoperative histological or bacteriological diagnosis to avoid unnecessary surgery. Springer Nature 2022 Article PeerReviewed text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33945/3/The%20great%20masquerader%20of%20pancreatic%20tuberculosis.pdf text en https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33945/1/The%20great%20masquerader%20of%20pancreatic%20tuberculosis%20_ABSTRACT.pdf Kheng, Hooi Chan and Harivinthan Sellappan and Thanesh Kumar Maiyauen and Azlanudin Azman and Mohd Firdaus Mohd Hayati (2022) The great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis. Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, 53 (147). pp. 1-5. ISSN 0378-603X (P-ISSN) , 2090-4762 (E-ISSN) https://ejrnm.springeropen.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s43055-022-00823-y.pdf https://doi.org/10.1186/s43055-022-00823-y https://doi.org/10.1186/s43055-022-00823-y
spellingShingle RC306-320.5 Tuberculosis
Kheng, Hooi Chan
Harivinthan Sellappan
Thanesh Kumar Maiyauen
Azlanudin Azman
Mohd Firdaus Mohd Hayati
The great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis
title The great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis
title_full The great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis
title_fullStr The great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis
title_full_unstemmed The great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis
title_short The great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis
title_sort great masquerader of pancreatic tuberculosis
topic RC306-320.5 Tuberculosis
url https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33945/3/The%20great%20masquerader%20of%20pancreatic%20tuberculosis.pdf
https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/33945/1/The%20great%20masquerader%20of%20pancreatic%20tuberculosis%20_ABSTRACT.pdf
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