Ultrasound and computed tomographic findings in pancreatic metastases.

This is a retrospective study of a series of seven patients with pancreatic metastases studied by ultrasonography and computed tomography. They were detected during tumor staging, or in the follow-up period of over 10 years of patients with advanced known malignancy. Lesions were multiple in two patients and solitary in five; solid in six cases and cystic in one. Clinically, four cases were asymptomatic and three cases presented with jaundice or epigastric pain. Ultrasonography and computed tomography findings were non-specific. Consequently it was not possible to differentiate solitary metastases from primary solid adenocarcinoma and cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas. In these cases, computed tomography- or ultrasonography-guided biopsies had to be performed to obtain histological proof. However, multiple lesions discovered in a patient with a known malignancy can be assumed to be due to metastases.