Heterotopic pancreas. Review of a 26 year experience.

A retrospective review of 37 patients (22 men and 15 women) with histologically verified heterotopic pancreas treated at the department of surgery of the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center from 1959 to 1985 was carried out. There were 31 adults (mean age 50 years) and 6 children (mean age 2.8 years). The majority of lesions were in the stomach, duodenum, and jejunum. One was found inside a duplicated stomach. Symptomatic lesions were confined to the gastroduodenal region and were larger, with frequent mucosal ulceration. Upper gastrointestinal contrast roentgenograms were sensitive tools for detection (87.5 percent of patients) and diagnosis (71.4 percent of patients) of these lesions. Endoscopy should be performed whenever epigastric pain is the presenting symptom. Resection of the tissue-bearing segment of small intestine is advisable when encountered incidentally at operation. In the absence of endoscopic biopsy confirmation, we recommend surgical exploration and frozen section histopathologic study for all symptomatic patients. Limited local excision has been shown to be a safe and adequate procedure for patients with these congenital anomalies.