Difficulties of X-ray diagnostics of ectopic splenic tissue

Background. A supernumerary spleen is a frequent finding with radiological methods for examination of the abdominal region. Most often it is located in the region of the splenic hilum, but in some cases it can be ectopied into the tail of the pancreas, which can be mistakenly considered as its tumor lesion followed by unjustified surgical intervention. That is why it is necessary to be able to differentiate ectopic spleen lobe and pancreatic solid tumors. Description of case series. This article presents the relevant literature and analysis of six of authors’ own observations of an ectopic spleen lobe in the pancreatic tail. Conclusion. The analysis showed that MRI with intravenous contrast agent in combination with the diffusion weighted imaging should be considered as the most effective in the differential diagnosis of tumors of the pancreatic tail and ectopic spleen lobe.

supernumerary spleen, ectopic spleen, pancreatic tumor, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging