Uncommon Anatomic Variation of the Pancreatic Duct: Ansa Pancreatica

A 70-year-old man with obstructive jaundice and ansa pancreatica as an incidental finding in magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) as a variant of normality (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

The ansa pancreatica is the presence of an additional arcuate branch (loop) that connects the dorsal and ventral pancreatic ducts to each other, in the context of an obliteration of the accessory duct at the proximal level.

This anatomic variation is associated as a predisposing factor for acute pancreatitis; thus, this finding has a great clinical relevance.

Diagnosis might be performed by MRCP or by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, which allows endoscopic treatment through sphincterotomy of the minor papilla.