Separate pancreatic ducts draining into a type IV choledochal cyst: simultaneous anatomical variants in a child suffering from cholelithiasis and acute pancreatitis.

ABSTRACT

The biliary tree and the pancreatic ducts originate from different buds of the primitive foregut. A plethora of anatomical variants and congenital anomalies have been described for both the biliary and the pancreatic duct systems, although they are usually asymptomatic. However, in some cases, these abnormalities can lead to serious clinical scenarios, especially when involving the biliopancreatic junction, with consequent mixing and reflux of the two different juices. To the best of our knowledge, we present the first case of pancreas divisum ducts draining into a choledochal cyst, with the lower third of the choledochus configuring a common biliopancreatic duct, in a child suffering from cholelithiasis and acute pancreatitis.