Incidental Pancreatic Lipomas Diagnosed by Computed Tomography

OBJECTIVEFatty tumours of the pancreas are rarely reported. With the advent of the imaging techniques, diagnosis of such tumours based on radiologic imaging is increasing.MATERIALS AND METHODSBetween June 2006 and June 2012, four patients with pancreatic lipomas that were diagnosed by computed tomography were reviewed retrospectively with regard to their imaging findings. There were 3 male and one female patient with a mean age of 60.8 years (from 53 to 67 years).RESULTSA single well-bordered nodular fatty lesion with well-delineated thin homogeneous capsule was seen in all patients. The mean densitometric measurement of the lesions was -76 Hounsfield units (HU) (from -83 HU to -63 HU). The size of the lesions was from 7 mm to 12 mm with a mean of 8.75mm. They were located in the tail, body and neck of the pancreas in two, one and one patient, respectively. There was no associated pancreatobiliary pathology. Histopathologic evaluation was not planned because of their incidental diagnosis in these asymptomatic patients.CONCLUSIONPancreatic lipomas are silent lesions, incidentally found during imaging procedures. They have specific computed tomography findings and do not require any additional diagnostic imaging.