Pancreatic hamartoma is an extremely rare, non-neoplastic, mass-forming lesion that may be mistaken for malignancy, and the pre-operative diagnosis is particularly challenging. The published literature contains only 23 cases of pancreatic hamartoma. The majority of the cases reported patients with a single benign tumor-like disease that received a pancreatectomy. Immunohistochemical findings confirmed the diagnosis following surgery. The current study reports the case of a 53-year-old female who presented to the Department of Abdominal Surgery, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Cancer Hospital (Beijing, China), due to abdominal pain. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 22×14-mm mass in the head of the pancreas. The patient was pre-operatively diagnosed with a pancreatic space-occupying lesion, and subsequently underwent a pancreaticoduodenectomy. The post-operative course was uneventful. Histological examination of the resected lesion resulted in a diagnosis of pancreatic hamartoma. There were no signs of recurrence at 55 months post-surgery.
Keywords: hamartoma; pancreas; surgery.