Among cases diagnosed as regional pancereatitis, groove panceretitis, which occurs regionally within the groove surrounding the head of the pancreas, the common bile duct and the duodenum, has been experienced as a specific type of chronic pancreatitis. As there have been no reports giving details of this disease in Japan, our own experiences are reported in the light of the related literature.
Clinical findings showed the lesion to be similar to a duodenal submucosal tumor, and histopathological findings revealed hemorrhage, inflammatory cellular infiltration, abscess formation, high-grade fibrous change and concretion within the accessory pancreatic duct in the pancreatic tissue between the duodenum and the common bile duct, and hyperplasia of the Brunner's glands in the proximal area of the duodenum.
The main clinical findings of this disease was duodenal constriction and a mass in the head of the pancreas, and differentiation from cancer in the head of the pancreas was needed. However, such a differentiation is not easy. Thus, the presence of this disease is thought to be important for differential diagnosis between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis.