Estimation of the prevalence of asymptomatic pancreatic cysts in the population of San Marino.

Abstract Background There has been a dramatic increase in the number of pancreatic cystic lesions observed in the past two decades but data regarding the prevalence of cysts in the general population are lacking. Methods All the individuals who undergo CT at the San Marino State Hospital are residents of the Republic of San Marino; their demographic distribution is available and precise. CT scans carried out over 1 year at the State Hospital were reviewed for asymptomatic pancreatic cysts. Results 1061 relevant CT scans were carried out on 814 patients; 762 individuals were eligible for the study and 650 patients underwent contrast-enhanced CT. Thirty-five patients had at least one cyst at contrast-enhanced CT (5.4%). The prevalence of cysts increased with increasing age up to 13.4% (95% CI 6.6–20) in individuals 80–89 years of age (p  Conclusions The likelihood of having a pancreatic cyst correlates with increasing age, not with the presence of extra-pancreatic malignancies. The estimated prevalence of CT-detectable asymptomatic pancreatic cysts in the general population is 2.2%.