Pancreatico-mediastinal fistula with a mediastinal mass lesion demonstrated by MR imaging

Internal pancreatic fistulas are uncommon but well‐recognized complications of inflammatory pancreatic disease. A case of a pancreatico‐mediastinal fistula with a mediastinal mass lesion in a patient with a documented history of chronic alcohol consumption and previous episodes of acute pancreatitis is described. Since the clinical symptomatology was dominated by pulmonary complaints, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging using a breathhold coronal T2‐weighted sequence with spectral fat saturation was essential in clarifying this difficult and rare pathology. Furthermore, the depiction of a fistulous tract between a mediastinal mass lesion and the retroperitoneum posterior to the pancreas, i.e., a pancreatico‐mediastinal fistula by MR imaging has not been previously reported, to the best of our knowledge. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2002;16:746–750. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.