[Surgical Resection of an Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Carcinoma Observed on Imaging Four Years after the Initial Diagnosis].

We herein report a 75-year-old woman who presented with an intraductal papillary mucinous carcinoma(IPMC)who was treated with surgical resection 4 years after the initial diagnosis was made. She previously underwent a high anterior resection of the rectum for rectal cancer at 71 years of age. Preoperative CT revealed a multilocular cystic mass measuring 6 cm in size in the body of the pancreas, which was considered benign. We followed up the intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm(IPMN) by using annual CT imaging for 4 years. CT revealed a gradual increase in the size of the mass and the development of an intramural nodule in the IPMN. Endoscopic retrograde pancreatography revealed dilatations of the main pancreatic duct communicating with the multilocular cystic lesion. The cytology of the pancreatic juice demonstrated class III b. We therefore diagnosed the patient as having IPMC and performed total pancreatectomy. The postoperative course was uneventful without any recurrence. To our knowledge, only few reports have described the natural history of IPMNs. This resected case of IPMC is rare on the basis of our observation of the natural history of an IPMN using long-term imaging studies.