| Abstract: | ![]()
Pancreatic solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) is a rare low grade malignant tumour. Distinguishing this entity from other pancreatic neoplasms is critical for therapeutic decision making and prognostication. It predominantly affects young female patients <40 years of age, with excellent clinical outcome following surgical removal. The gold standard diagnostic test is cytopathological or histopathological assessment of fine needle aspirate. There are two main difficulties with this. First, SPN can present with morphological and immunohistochemical appearances that can closely mimic other pancreatic tumours, in particular, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour (NET). Second, the amount of diagnostic material from fine needle aspiration can be limited. Here, we present a cytopathological case with both challenges during the pre-operative investigation of SPN. The case exemplifies the importance of combining morphological features with a targeted panel of immunohistochemistry to arrive at the diagnosis. |
