A DESMOID TUMOR OF THE PANCREAS - SPORADIC INTRAABDOMINAL DESMOIDS REVISITED

Conclusions: Desmoid tumors may rarely develop at the site of an unrel ated surgical procedure. This is an index description of a desmoid tum or occurring at the line of a pancreatic resection, Because sporadic i ntra-abdominal desmoids are markedly less prone to recurrence than gen etically determined desmoids, it is reasonable to suggest re-resection for the infrequent recurrence in sporadic cases. Background: Intra-ab dominal desmoid tumors are infrequently encountered in surgical practi ce and, when seen, are most often those genetically determined tumors associated with Gardner's Syndrome or familial polyposis. In contrast, fewer than 100 cases of sporadic intra-abdominal desmoid tumors have been reported; only 16 of these sporadic tumors have occurred at the s ite of a previous surgical procedure. The current report describes a c ase of sporadic desmoid tumor that developed at the pancreatic suture line 18 mo following distal pancreatectomy for a nonsecreting islet ce ll tumor. Methods: An extensive literature search was focused on desmo id tumors in general, and sporadic intraabdominal desmoids in particul ar. Results: During the course of this collective review, it was noted that the high rate of postoperative recurrence for intra-abdominal de smoids in genetically determined cases differed markedly from the low rate of recurrence after resection of sporadic tumors.