Pancreas Flashcards
What is pancreas agenesis?
Absence of pancreas
Often with other malformations that make incompatible with life
What is the most common congenital pancreatic anomaly?
Panrcreas divisum
What happens with pancreas divisum?
Dorsal and ventral ducts don’t fuse…the bulk of the pancreas drains through the dorsal pancreatic duct
What is it called when pancreatic tissue wraps around the second part of the duodenum?
Annular pancreas…usually a non-issue
What effect does acute pancreatitis have on fatty tissue and the pancreatic parenchyma?
Leakage of pancreatic enzymes injures the fat and parenchyma
What are the microscopic and gross findings of acute hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis?
Hemorrhage Fat necrosis (soft, chalky white areas)
What are the microscopic and gross findings of long-standing chronic pancreatitis?
Irreversible destruction
Fibrosis (TGF-b and PDGF)
Sprinkling of chronic inflammatory cells
How does chronic pancreatitis cause pancreatic insufficiency?
Repeated injury –> irreversible loss of acinar cell mass –> pancreatic insufficiency
On examination of pancreatitis; gross findings include a mass, and microscopic findings include lymphocytic sclerosing. What type of pancreatitis is it?
Type I autoimmune pancreatitis (IgG-related disease)
What is the treatment for IgG-related diseases like Type I autoimmune pancreatitis?
Glucocorticoid therapy
It is determined that a pancreatic cyst is lined by fibrin and granulation tissue instead of epithelium. What is this cyst most accurately called? What are the two most common causes?
Pancreatic pseudocyst
Caused by acute pancreatitis or trauma
Lab examination of a pancreatic cyst shows small cysts with clear, thin, straw-colored fluid surrounded by glycogen-rich cuboidal cells. What kind of cyst is it? Why did the patient come in? Who is the most likely patient? Is this cyst likely cancerous?
Serous (microcystic) cystadenoma…fluid filled and small…name makes sense
Presents with abdominal pain…most often in old people
Benign
A middle aged woman is found to have cysts on her pancreas that are large, multiloculated, and filled with mucin. What kind of cysts? Where are these cysts most likely located on the pancreas? Is this cancerous?
Mucinous cystadenoma…filled with mucin…name makes sense
Slow growing mass in tail or body of pancreas
Cystadenoma is benign…cystadenocarcinoma is malignant
An older patient presents with a growth in his neoplasm that communicates with a dilated pancreatic duct system and lacks “ovarian type” stroma. What is the name of the growth? Is it cancerous?
Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm
Can be benign or malignant
Where does pancreatic cancer rank on the list of causes of cancer deaths?
Pancreatic cancer is the FOURTH leading cause of cancer deaths