Diagnosis of primary pancreatic lymphoma: percutaneous or ultrasound endoscopic biopsy?

Background: Primary pancreatic lymphoma (PPL) is a relatively rare pancreatic tumor in clinical practice. It lacks specificity in clinical presentation and imaging, and is easily confused with pancreatic cancer, leading to misdiagnosis and delayed treatment.The diagnosis is now usually confirmed clinically by obtaining tissue samples through percutaneous/endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guided biopsy or exploratory dissection biopsy. Case presentation: A 79-year-old female patient underwent two biopsies of pancreatic specimens. The first was an unconfirmed diagnosis by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) under EUS guidance, and the second was an ultrasound-guided percutaneous aspiration biopsy that confirmed the diagnosis of PPL. CONCLUSION: The decision regarding exactly which procedure to choose requires a combination of the patient's anatomy, the surgeon's expertise, and the results of a combination of factors in the field.