Reviewer's report 
 Solitary Pancreatic Tuberculous Abscess Mimicking Prancreatic Cystadenocarcinoma: Report of Title: 
a Case 
Authors: 
Quanda Liu ( liuquanda@sina.com )
Zhenping He ( hezp@sina.com )
Ping Bie ( biep@sina.com )
 1  9 Oct 2002 Version: Date: 
 Prof Gregory Kouraklis Reviewer: 
 A paper of considerable general medical or scientific interest Level of interest: 
 Unable to decide on acceptance or rejection until the authors have responded Advice on publication: 
to the compulsory revisions 
Compulsory revisions 
The authors report an extremely rare case of a young woman with primary pancreatic tuberculosis, who 
was initially diagnosed as pancreatic cystadenocarcinoma. 
This unusual case emphasizes the preoperative diagnostic difficulties and that in all suspected cases of 
pancreatic carcinoma an attempt should be made to confirm the diagnosis by Ultrasound guided needle 
biopsy. Eventhough, I agree with the authors view that cytological confirmation is mandatory before a 
diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma is established (1), the authors should report in the discussion that 
others believe that preoperative biopsy should not perform when carcinoma is suspected, because of 
the potential risk of tumor dissemination (2). References 1. Kouraklis G, Glinavou A, Karayiannakis A, Karatzas G: Primary tuberculosis of the pancreas 
mimicking a pancreatic tumor. Int J Pancreatol 29(3):151-153, 2001 
2. Warshaw AL: Implications of peritoneal cytology for staging of early pancreatic cancer. Am J Surg 161:26-30, 1991 
Competing interests: 
None declared. 
Reviewer's report 
 Solitary Pancreatic Tuberculous Abscess Mimicking Prancreatic Cystadenocarcinoma: Report of Title: 
a Case 
Authors: 
Quanda Liu ( liuquanda@sina.com )
Zhenping He ( hezp@sina.com )
Ping Bie ( biep@sina.com )
 1  9 Oct 2002 Version: Date: 
 Prof Gregory Kouraklis Reviewer: 
 A paper of considerable general medical or scientific interest Level of interest: 
 Unable to decide on acceptance or rejection until the authors have responded Advice on publication: 
to the compulsory revisions 
Compulsory revisions 
The authors report an extremely rare case of a young woman with primary pancreatic tuberculosis, who 
was initially diagnosed as pancreatic cystadenocarcinoma. 
This unusual case emphasizes the preoperative diagnostic difficulties and that in all suspected cases of 
pancreatic carcinoma an attempt should be made to confirm the diagnosis by Ultrasound guided needle 
biopsy. Eventhough, I agree with the authors view that cytological confirmation is mandatory before a 
diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma is established (1), the authors should report in the discussion that 
others believe that preoperative biopsy should not perform when carcinoma is suspected, because of 
the potential risk of tumor dissemination (2). References 1. Kouraklis G, Glinavou A, Karayiannakis A, Karatzas G: Primary tuberculosis of the pancreas 
mimicking a pancreatic tumor. Int J Pancreatol 29(3):151-153, 2001 
2. Warshaw AL: Implications of peritoneal cytology for staging of early pancreatic cancer. Am J Surg 161:26-30, 1991 
Competing interests: 
None declared. 
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report 
 Solitary Pancreatic Tuberculous Abscess Mimicking Prancreatic Cystadenocarcinoma: Report of Title: 
a Case 
Authors: 
Quanda Liu ( liuquanda@sina.com )
Zhenping He ( hezp@sina.com )
Ping Bie ( biep@sina.com )
 1  9 Oct 2002 Version: Date: 
 Prof Gregory Kouraklis Reviewer: 
 A paper of considerable general medical or scientific interest Level of interest: 
 Unable to decide on acceptance or rejection until the authors have responded Advice on publication: 
to the compulsory revisions 
Compulsory revisions 
The authors report an extremely rare case of a young woman with primary pancreatic tuberculosis, who 
was initially diagnosed as pancreatic cystadenocarcinoma. 
This unusual case emphasizes the preoperative diagnostic difficulties and that in all suspected cases of 
pancreatic carcinoma an attempt should be made to confirm the diagnosis by Ultrasound guided needle 
biopsy. Eventhough, I agree with the authors view that cytological confirmation is mandatory before a 
diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma is established (1), the authors should report in the discussion that 
others believe that preoperative biopsy should not perform when carcinoma is suspected, because of 
the potential risk of tumor dissemination (2). References 1. Kouraklis G, Glinavou A, Karayiannakis A, Karatzas G: Primary tuberculosis of the pancreas 
mimicking a pancreatic tumor. Int J Pancreatol 29(3):151-153, 2001 
2. Warshaw AL: Implications of peritoneal cytology for staging of early pancreatic cancer. Am J Surg 161:26-30, 1991 
Competing interests: 
None declared. 
assistant