[Solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas: a case report and a review of the literature].

The solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas is a rare neoplasm, representing 0.13% to 2.7% of all pancreatic tumors. This neoplasm is more common in young women between the third and fourth decade of life. It may produce nonspecific symptoms and in many cases is asymptomatic, being diagnosed incidentally. A 28-year-old woman with no previous medical history presented epigastric pain for the last 3 months. Physical examination was normal. When an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed, a submucosal lesion was observed in the posterior wall of the stomach. A computed tomography and a magnetic resonance imaging were done and both showed a 2.8 cm-diameter tumor in the body of the pancreas. She underwent a spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy (Warshaw surgery), evolved favourably and was discharged at the sixth postoperative day. The pathological diagnosis of the surgical specimen was a solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas. Surgery is the gold-standard treatment for this condition, given the facts that no other treatment have proven being effective and often surgical treatment is curative because of the tumor's low malignant potential.