Nearly 3 Percent of Scanned Patients Had Pancreatic Tissue Looped Around a Major Vein Without Knowing It

What Radiologists Found in 1,000 Consecutive Scans

Most people assume the pancreas sits in front of the large veins that drain the gut and the spleen. In a small share of the population, it does not. A collar of pancreatic tissue loops behind the portal vein and fuses with the body of the organ, leaving a major blood vessel running through a sleeve of pancreas.