NORMAL VARIATIONS IN THE LATERAL CONTOUR OF THE HEAD AND NECK OF THE PANCREAS MIMICKING NEOPLASM - EVALUATION WITH DUAL-PHASE HELICAL CT

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to analyze variations in the lateral contour of the head and neck of the pancreas that can mimic pa ncreatic masses on CT imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We retrospective ly reviewed dual-phase helical CT examinations of 119 patients who had no clinical or CT evidence of pancreatic disease, Contour variations of the head and neck of the pancreas were analyzed and were classified according to their anatomic orientation. RESULTS. Forty-one (34.5%) o f the 119 patients had discrete lobulations of pancreatic tissue great er than 1 cm lateral to the gastroduodenal or anterior superior pancre aticoduodenal artery. These lobulations showed normal pancreatic densi ty on both predominantly arterial and portal venous phase images. Cont our variants of the pancreatic head and neck were categorized as three main types: anterior (type I), posterior (type II), and horizontal (t ype III), In the 119 patients, we found 12 type 1 Variants (10%), 23 t ype II variants (19%), and six type III variants (5%). CONCLUSION. Var iations in the lateral contour of the normal head and neck of the panc reas are common. Recognition of the different types of contours may he lp avoid misinterpretation of normal variants as pancreatic masses.