LYMPHOEPITHELIAL CYST- A RARE NON-MALIGNANT CYSTIC LESION OF PANCREAS

Lymphoepithelial cysts are rare pancreatic lesions of undetermined pathogenesis. The literature on this entity is limited to case reports or small series. We describe a case of 33 year female, with incisional hernia incidentally diagnosed to have cystic lesion in tail of the pancreas that was managed by distal pancreatectomy. An extensive Medline search was carried out for lymphoepithelial cyst of pancreas. Till date less than 100 cases were identified in available literature. This entity has uniform and distinctive clinicopathological features. About half of the reported cases were asymptomatic with most of the lesions diagnosed incidentally. Majority of patients presents with non-specific symptoms making preoperative diagnosis difficult. Lymphoepithelial cyst of the pancreas is a rare benign lesion, which is difficult to diagnose preoperatively. High index of suspicion and preoperative fine needle aspiration cytology may help in making diagnosis and avoiding surgery in asymptomatic patients