Pancreatic cancer with chylous ascites demonstrated by lymphoscintigraphy: successful treatment with peritoneovenous shunting.

A 60-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of abdominal distension caused by massive chylous ascites. Six months earlier, she was diagnosed with inoperative pancreatic head cancer and biliary tract stenting and radiation therapy were performed due to obstructive jaundice. The chylous ascites was observed by lymphoscintigraphy with 99mTc-labeled human serum albumin. It showed upper abdomen accumulation and leakage into the abdominal cavity, and a diagnosis of chylous ascites caused by obstruction or rupture of lymphocele due to pancreatic cancer was made. Chylous ascites did not improve with a conservative therapy, including low-fat diet and administration of flousemide, but was successfully treated with a peritoneovenous shunt using a Denver shunting tube. In association with the placement of the shunt, she lived for 15 months after the first diagnose of pancreatic cancer without pancreatoduodenectomy.