Pancreatic pseudocysts located in the liver: a systematic review of the literature.

Background: Pancreatic pseudocysts (PC) are a common complication of both acute and chronic pancreatitis. Most pancreatic pseudocysts are located within the head and the body of the pancreas, but 20% of them are extrapancreatic (pleura, mediastinum, pelvis and spleen). The location of a pseudocyst in the liver is an exceptional event, only thirty three cases are reported in the literature.

Aim: This article aimed to report a new case of PC located in the liver combined with a systematic review of reported cases published in peer-reviewed journals.

Methods: A new case of PC located in the liver was reported. An extensive electronic search of the relevant literature since 1990 was carried out using Medline. We retained only the articles reporting one or several cases. When the article was unavailable, we considered the relevant abstracts which should report clinical patterns and therapeutic modalities. Reviews of the literature, systematic reviews, letters to editors and incomplete abstracts were excluded. A descriptive analysis of the collected sample including our case was performed. Morphological, therapeutic and outcome variables were reported.

Results: The analysis of 22 cases reported in the literature and our observation provided the following data: 17 men and 6 women with a mean age of 51 +/- 3.2 years. Seventeen patients presented an acute pancreatitis, complicating a chronic pancreatitis in seven cases, alcoholic in six cases, biliary in three cases and traumatic in one case. Six patients presented a chronic pancreatitis. The PC was located in the left lobe of the liver in 12 cases, in the right lobe in 6 cases and interested the two lobes in 5 cases. The lesion was unique in 8 patients and multiple in 15 patients. Fifteen patients were treated by Ultrasound or CT guided percutaneous drainage. Four patients were managed surgically. Three patients had no specific treatment. One patient was successfully treated by endoscopic transpapillary drainage. The evolution was favourable for all patients except in three patients who died.

Conclusions: Pancreatic pseudocyst located in the liver is an exceptional event, commonly following acute pancreatitis, rising in older male, involving the left lobe of the liver and treated by percutaneous drainage.