Role of endoscopic ultrasound in the diagnosis of agenesis of the dorsal pancreas.

CONTEXT: Complete agenesis of the dorsal pancreas is an unusual congenital anomaly. Nowadays, the diagnosis is based on four imaging studies: transabdominal ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography and, the gold-standard, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Sometimes the ability of these studies are limited to distinguishing agenesis of the dorsal pancreas from other congenital abnormalities. Endoscopic ultrasound is a minimally invasive technique which permits us to obtain high resolution images of the pancreatic parenchyma and ductal system. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a 23-year-old woman with recurrent episodes of acute pancreatitis and non-conclusive classic imaging studies. Complete agenesis of the dorsal pancreas was demonstrated by endoscopic ultrasound.
CONCLUSION: Endoscopic ultrasound may be useful in the diagnosis of agenesis of the dorsal pancreas.