Serous cystadenoma of the pancreas

Introduction: Serous cystadenomas of the pancreas are rare tumors and thoug ht to be almost always benign. Methods: We report our experience in the dia gnosis and surgical treatment of 12 patients with these tumors. Results: Be tween October 1993 and December 1998, 41 patients with cystic tumors of the pancreas underwent surgical resection; in 12 cases (11 women, 1 man) a ser ous cystadenoma (10 microcystic, 2 oligomacrocystic) was found. Only 6 (50% ) patients had symptoms. The mean tumor size was 4.8 (2.7-10) cm. Ultrasoun d, CT and MRT usually could detect the mass, but differentiation with other cystic lesions was not reliable. All tumors were resected: 4 Whipple proce dures, 7 distal pancreatectomies and 1 segmental resection were performed. No patient died after surgery and none had to be reoperated on. Conclusions : Because of the difficulty in reliably differentiating benign and malignan t lesions of the pancreas, we believe that cystic tumors of the pancreas sh ould be resected.