Figure 1

Close-up of the posterior aspect of a pancreaticoduodenectomy specimen from a patient with adenocarcinoma in the pancreatic head without tumour infiltration into the retroperitoneal margin, before (A) and after (B) fixation in formalin. The retroperitoneal resection margin was defined as the area of sharp dissection (white stapled area) in the peripancreatic fatty tissue behind the pancreatic head and lateral to the mesenteric vessels. In this case this area was relatively small. In cases with tumour infiltration or inflammation involving the posterior aspect of the pancreatic head, the size of this sharply dissected area may extend into the superior mesenteric vein groove (A, indicated by the forceps) or to a larger part of the posterior pancreatic surface (B, red stapled area). The black stapled area (A, B) indicates the pancreatic neck transection margin.