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. 2010 Oct 27;2(10):331–336. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v2.i10.331

Table 2.

Key questions to aid in making likely diagnoses[19]

Key question Likely diagnoses to consider
Demographics and history Male? MCN unlikely
No history of pancreatitis? PSEUDO unlikely
Young female? SPN
History of MEN? cNET
History VHL? SC
Imaging Spheroid? PSEUDO or MCN
Central sunburst calcification? SC
Location in head? MCN unlikely
Cyst fluid No CEA/mucin? IPMN or MCN unlikely
High CEA, high amylase? IPMN
High CEA, low amylase MCN
Low CEA, high amylase? PSUEDO
High amylase? IPMN or PSEUDO
Histology Epithelial lining? PSEUDO unlikely
Ovarian stroma? MCN

IPMN: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm; MCN: Mucinous cystic neoplasm; SC: Serous cystadenoma; PSEUDO: Pancreatic pseudocyst; SPN: Solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm; VHL: Von hippel-lindau disease; MEN: Multiple endocrine neoplasia. These data are derived generalizations of the literature, with the understanding that there is significant overlap among cyst types and there are inherent sampling errors associated with various tests; diagnostic and treatment decisions should not rely solely on the information presented in this review. An electronic worksheet version of this table is available at http://pathology.jhu.edu/pancreas/professionals/ipmn.php