Circumportal pancreas with retroportal main pancreatic duct.

There have been 6 cases of circumportal pancreas reported, and 2 of them had the main pancreatic duct in a retroportal dorsal portion. This extremely uncommon anomaly is asymptomatic and therefore incidentally discovered. For the surgeon, it is important to discover this during pancreatic resection so the pancreatic duct can be closed and fistula is avoided. We describe the third case where a circumportal pancreas had its main pancreatic duct passing under the portal vein. The duct was identified and ligated. A fistula did not occur.