How common are intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms?
Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms form cysts (small cavities or spaces) in the pancreas and these lesions are surprisingly common. We just completed a study here at Johns Hopkins Hospital in which we carefully studied the pancreatic findings in a large series of patient who underwent computerized tomography (CT) scanning that included their pancreas (see reference 1). Only patients who did not have known pancreatic problems and who did not have symptoms from their pancreas were included. 2,832 consecutive CT scans were reviewed and a total of 73 patients were found to have a pancreatic cyst. In other words, 2.6 out of every 100 individuals examined had a pancreatic cyst, and remember these were patients without any symptoms. Most of these cysts were intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms. There was a strong correlation between pancreatic cysts and age. No cysts were identified among patients less than 40 years of age, while 8.7 percent of the patients age 80 to 89 years had a
