Clinicopathological features and surgical outcomes of neuroendocrine tumors of ampulla of Vater

Background The study aims to investigate the clinicopathological features and surgical outcomes of neuroendocrine tumors of ampulla of Vater (NETAoVs) patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy. Methods From January 2007 to December 2014, 45 patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy for malignant disease of the ampulla of Vater in our institution. Of those, 5 patients were diagnosed as neuroendocrine tumors. The data included age, sex, presenting symptoms, preoperative imaging, preoperative type of biopsy results, type of operation, pathologic findings and survival status. Results The patient’s mean age was 55.2 ± 9.7 years. Endoscopic ultrasound guided biopsy was performed in 4 patients and gastroduodenoscopic biopsy was performed in one patient. All showed neuroendocrine tumor without mitosis. Mean tumor size was 1.9 ± 0.56 cm (range, 1.2–2.0 cm). Lymph node metastases were detected in two patients. All patients were synaptophysin-positive. Median periods of follow-up were 45 months (range, 43–78 months). Recurrence after operation occurred in two patients. 4 patients were alive at the last follow-up. Conclusions Radical resection for NETAoVs can provide the information of status of lymph node metastasis after surgery. However, correlation between lymph node metastasis and overall survival is uncertain to date.