Pancreatic-portal vein fistula with disseminated fat necrosis treated by pancreaticoduodenectomy

I have reported the case of a 62-year-old man with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis and a rare pseudocyst-portal vein fistula. Even though he experienced no abdominal symptoms, he had severe metastatic fat necrosis manifested as subcutaneous fat necrosis, polyarthritis, medullary bone necrosis, and mental status changes. Remote tissue destruction continued until relief was gained by pancreaticoduodenectomy and repair of the necrotic portal vein. Disseminated fat necrosis is a rare syndrome that can be the only presenting feature in patients with pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. Early recognition and treatment of the underlying pancreatic disease may decrease the high morality rate associated with this syndrome.     

The importance of objective data in the diagnosis of pancreatitis

In 78 patients with likely pancreatitis, we used laparotomy, computerized tomography, ultrasonography and other information to make an objective diagnosis of pancreatitis. Laboratory studies included serum amylase, amylase isoenzymes and lipase. We found that both amylase and lipase are highly sensitive tests and P3 amylase by electrophoresis on agarose to be specific; a combination of these tests is recommended to assist in the diagnosis of pancreatitis. The frequent occurrence of an abnormal amylase and lipase in patients without pancreatitis is suggested as the cause of overdiagnosis of this disorder. A markedly increased amylase or lipase was always associated with pancreatic disease.     

Chronic Pancreatitis: Ultrasound, Computed Tomography, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features

Chronic pancreatitis is a progressive, irreversible inflammatory and fibrosing disease of the pancreas with clinical manifestations of chronic abdominal pain, weight loss, and permanent pancreatic exocrine and endocrine insufficiency. In the United States, a long history of heavy alcohol consumption is the most common cause of chronic pancreatitis. This review discusses the different modalities such as computed tomography, transabdominal and endoscopic ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging/magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography available to image chronic pancreatitis, along with their advantages and limitations. In addition, topics such as groove pancreatitis and autoimmune pancreatitis are examined, along with a discussion of distinguishing chronic pancreatitis from pancreatic adenocarcinoma.     

Chronic pancreatitis: the diagnostic significance of pancreatic size and echo amplitude

Pancreatic size and pancreatic echo amplitude were examined to determine their value for distinguishing chronic pancreatitis from normal. Using patients with cystic fibrosis as a model for chronic pancreatitis, a prospective study was performed comparing 16 patients with this disease and 16 normals. Absolute measurements of the pancreatic body and the ratio of pancreatic size to vertebral body size were determined. Pancreatic echo amplitude was both measured clinically from the B-scan and evaluated in a blind review by seven observers. The pancreases of cystic fibrosis could be distinguished on the basis of echo amplitude with sensitivity and specificity of 94 per cent and 100 per cent for direct B-scan echo amplitude measurements and 74 per cent and 88 per cent for reviewers. Pancreatic size was of no value as a distinguishing characteristic, probably because as the diseased pancreas increases in echo amplitude by fat and fibrous tissue replacement, it blends imperceptibly with the peripancreatic soft tissues. Measurement of pancreatic size in chronic pancreatitis is therefore inaccurate and probably overestimated.     

Computed tomography,ultrasonography, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in the diagnosis of pancreatic disease: A comparative study

A prospective study was performed comparing the sensitivity of computed tomography, ultrasonography, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in the diagnosis of pancreatic disease. Forty patients with suspected pancreatic carcinoma, acute recurrent or chronic pancreatitis, and/ or jaundice were studied. CT was the most sensitive study in evaluation of pancreatitis. ERCP was most accurate in evaluation of pancreatic malignancy. Ultrasonography was the least sensitive method in detecting pancreatic disease and dilatation of the extrahepatic biliary ducts.     

Computed tomography and the dilated pancreatic duct: An ominous sign

The main pancreatic duct has been visualized with both ultrasound and computed tomography. A normal pancreatic duct has not been reported using CT, and controversy persists over whether a normal duct can be routinely imaged with ultrasound. The dilated pancreatic duct has always been associated with disease — usually pancreatitis or a proximal obstructing pancreatic carcinoma. In the patient with no clinical history or laboratory data suggesting pancreatitis, a dilated pancreatic duct implies a proximal tumor.     

Fulminant type 1 diabetes mellitus with remarkable elevation of serum pancreatic enzymes

Fulminant type 1 diabetes mellitus progresses extremely rapidly and is accompanied by ketoacidosis. Patients with the disease present at emergency departments with non-specific symptoms, including fever, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Here, we present a case of fulminant type 1 diabetes mellitus where the patient was initially misdiagnosed with gastroenteritis and acute pancreatitis. A 50-year-old Japanese woman was referred to our hospital with coma and shock. She had presented with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and thirst from 5?days before admission, and had been misdiagnosed with gastroenteritis by her primary care physician. Upon examination, metabolic acidosis and remarkable elevation of pancreatic exocrine enzymes were found (amylase 4322?IU/L, lipase 1046?IU/L). Acute pancreatitis was initially suspected because of the high pancreatic enzyme levels and abdominal pain. However, her plasma glucose level was markedly elevated at 1357?mg/dL. The patient was diagnosed with fulminant type 1 diabetes mellitus. Computed tomography showed no radiological evidence of acute pancreatitis. In conclusion, fulminant type 1 diabetes mellitus is often referred to hospital with flu-like or gastrointestinal symptoms and elevation of serum pancreatic enzymes. Physicians must be sure not to misdiagnose it as gastroenteritis or acute pancreatitis.     

C reactive protein in pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis

Serum C reactive protein was determined in 30 control subjects, 32 patients with pancreatic cancer, 28 with chronic pancreatitis and 23 with extra-pancreatic diseases of the upper gastrointestinal tract. The aim was to ascertain possible alterations of this index in chronic pancreatic disease and to speculate on some influencing factors. Higher C reactive protein levels were found in pancreatic cancer as compared to controls. Pancreatic cancer patients with systemic metastases had higher levels of this index compared to those with non-metastatic disease. Raised concentrations of C reactive protein were detected in 7/28 subjects with chronic pancreatitis. In this group these higher levels were found in patients in a relapsing phase of the disease; no association was observed with pancreatic pseudocysts. Among all subjects a correlation was found, between C reactive protein and age; patients with abnormal fasting blood glucose levels or increased white blood cell count had higher levels of this protein as compared to the remaining patients. We may conclude that C reactive protein increases in pancreatic cancer, specially in relation to tumour extent; in chronic pancreatitis it reflects the inflammatory status of the gland. While acting in the context of the acute phase response, this test may provide an adjunct in evaluating patients with a chronic pancreatic disease.     

Current advances in the management of chronic pancreatitis

Chronic pancreatitis is characterized by irreversible destruction of pancreatic parenchyma and its ductal system resulting from longstanding inflammation, leading to fibrosis and scarring due to genetic, environmental, and other risk factors. The diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis is made based on a combination of clinical features and characteristic findings on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Abdominal pain is the most common symptom of chronic pancreatitis. The main aim of treatment is to relieve symptoms, prevent disease progression, and manage complications related to chronic pancreatitis. Patients who do not respond to medical treatment or not a candidate for surgical treatment are usually managed with endoscopic therapies. Endoscopic therapies help with symptoms such as abdominal pain and jaundice by decompression of pancreatic and biliary ducts. This review summarizes the risk factors, pathophysiology, diagnostic evaluation, endoscopic treatment of chronic pancreatitis, and complications. We have also reviewed recent advances in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic ultrasound-guided therapies for pancreatic duct obstruction due to stones, strictures, pancreatic divisum, and biliary strictures.     

Hereditary pancreatitis in a young adult: Acute to chronic

This report investigates an unusual case of recurrent pancreatitis. A 22-year-old female was admitted to the emergency room for severe abdominal pain, nausea, and weight loss. She reported having these symptoms since she was a toddler. The clinician ordered fecal pancreatic elastase-1, fat-soluble vitamins, molecular studies, and imaging of the pancreas by computed tomography. The screening test result for fecal pancreatic elastase-1 revealed severe pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, and the concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins were also low. Imaging showed scattered calcifications in the pancreas. These findings supported a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. Due to the rarity of chronic pancreatitis in young adults, molecular studies were performed. The patient was found to be homozygous for a mutation in the SPINK1 gene, which is associated with hereditary pancreatitis. This case report discusses hereditary pancreatitis and highlights data on the utilization of fecal pancreatic elastase-1 to assess pancreatic exocrine insufficiency.     

When should treatment of acute experimental pancreatitis be started?

Sodium taurocholate pancreatitis in the rat is a frequently used experimental model for evaluating therapeutical regimes in this disease. It is, however, uncertain when treatment should be started, as the early phase of this experimental model and thus the time when the pancreatitis really develops is unknown. Serum and pancreatic enzymes, as well as pancreatic morphology, were therefore studied 5, 30, and 60 min after induction of sodium taurocholate pancreatitis. It was found that increase in serum enzymes and decrease in pancreatic enzymes and morphological changes characteristic for acute pancreatitis develop as early as 5 and 30 min after induction of pancreatitis. Thus, therapy in this model may be started shortly after induction of acute pancreatitis.     

A new criterion in differentiation of pancreatitis and pancreatic carcinoma: artery-to-vein ratio using the superior mesenteric vessels

Evaluation of infiltration of the superior mesenteric vein (SMV) and artery (SMA) fat planes has been considered in differentiating pancreatic carcinoma from pancreatitis. Some pancreatitis cases, however, can cause perivascular fat plane obliteration due to extension of the inflammatory process, mimicking appearances of carcinoma. This study investigated the diameters of SMV and SMA on CT scans, just caudal to the origin of SMA and portal confluens, in 68 pancreatitis and in 48 pancreatic carcinoma patients. SMA-to-SMV diameters (A/V diameter) were compared and ratios were obtained. In conclusion, it appears that when the A/V ratio is over 1.0, a malignant condition can be suspected. This may be used as a secondary criterion in the differential diagnosis of pancreatitis and pancreatic carcinoma. Received: 11 January 1995/Accepted after revision: 31 March 1995     

Combined computerized tomography and angiography in evaluation of hemorrhage into pancreatic pseudocysts

Hemorrhage into a pancreatic pseudocyst is a rare but frequently lethal complication of pancreatitis, which remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Angiography alone or in combination with ultrasonography and radionuclide perfusion scans will occasionally fail to identify adequately the source of bleeding. We have presented a case illustrating the superiority of dynamic computerized tomography and angiography in the preoperative evaluation of a patient with pancreatic disease and upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage.     

Chronic pancreatitis

Chronic pancreatitis is the progressive and permanent destruction of the pancreas resulting in exocrine and endocrine insufficiency and, often, chronic disabling pain. The etiology is multifactorial. Alcoholism plays a significant role in adults, whereas genetic and structural defects predominate in children. The average age at diagnosis is 35 to 55 years. Morbidity and mortality are secondary to chronic pain and complications (e.g., diabetes, pancreatic cancer). Contrast-enhanced computed tomography is the radiographic test of choice for diagnosis, with ductal calcifications being pathognomonic. Newer modalities, such as endoscopic ultrasonography and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, provide diagnostic results similar to those of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Management begins with lifestyle modifications (e.g., cessation of alcohol and tobacco use) and dietary changes followed by analgesics and pancreatic enzyme supplementation. Before proceeding with endoscopic or surgical interventions, physicians and patients should weigh the risks and benefits of each procedure. Therapeutic endoscopy is indicated for symptomatic or complicated pseudocyst, biliary obstruction, and decompression of pancreatic duct. Surgical procedures include decompression for large duct disease (pancreatic duct dilatation of 7 mm or more) and resection for small duct disease. Lateral pancreaticojejunostomy is the most commonly performed surgery in patients with large duct disease. Pancreatoduodenectomy is indicated for the treatment of chronic pancreatitis with pancreatic head enlargement. Patients with chronic pancreatitis are at increased risk of pancreatic neoplasm; regular surveillance is sometimes advocated, but formal guidelines and evidence of clinical benefit are lacking.     

Pancreatic carcinoid tumor with obstructive pancreatitis: multislice helical CT appearance: case report

Carcinoid tumor of the pancreas is rare. Moreover, obstructive pancreatitis secondary to a pancreatic carcinoid tumor is extremely rare. We report a case of pancreatic carcinoid tumor in a 50-year-old male who presented with pancreatitis. On multislice helical computed tomography, the main pancreatic duct was obstructed by a small round tumor, and the main pancreatic duct proximal to the tumor was dilated. The correlation between the main pancreatic duct and the tumor was well depicted on minimum intensity projection image. This is the first report of multislice helical computed tomorgraphic and minimum intensity projection image findings of a pancreatic carcinoid tumor presenting with pancreatitis     

Nonalcoholic fatty pancreas disease: An emerging clinical challenge

Nonalcoholic fatty pancreas disease (NAFPD) is an emerging disease that has gained an increasing amount of attention in recent years. It describes fat accumulation in the pancreas with insignificant alcohol consumption, but the pathogenesis is largely unknown. A wide range of terms have been used to describe the phenomenon of pancreatic fat accumulation, but NAFPD remains an under-recognized and non-independent disorder. Obesity, age, sex, race, and unhealthy lifestyle are established independent risk factors for NAFPD, which is strongly associated with metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, pancreatitis, pancreatic fistula, pancreatic cancer, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. At present, imaging techniques are common diagnostic aids, but uniform criteria and consensus are lacking. Therapeutically, healthy diet, weight loss, and exercise are the mainstays to reduce pancreatic fat accumulation. It can be seen that there is a limited understanding of NAFPD at this stage and further exploration is needed. Previous studies have revealed that NAFPD may directly affect diagnosis and clinical decision-making. Therefore, exploring the pathophysiological mechanism and clinical associations of NAFPD is a major challenge for researchers and clinicians.     

Nonenhanced magnetic resonance imaging of mild acute pancreatitis

BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) is not always effective for demonstrating mild acute pancreatitis, and the intravenous administration of iodine contrast medium is harmful to the inflamed pancreas. The goal of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of nonenhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for the depiction of mild acute pancreatitis. METHODS: We performed T1-weighted imaging with a short echo time, T2-weighted imaging, and MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in 12 patients with mild acute pancreatitis. Nonenhanced CT and contrast-enhanced CT were always performed before the MR studies. RESULTS: T1- and T2-weighted MR images using a breath-hold or respiratory-triggered technique produced clearer images of the inflamed pancreas than did CT. Peripancreatic fat necrosis was shown by both methods. Although MRCP demonstrated no abnormalities of the pancreatic duct, it demonstrated stones in the gallbladder and common bile duct. CONCLUSIONS: Nonenhanced MR imaging was superior to CT for depiction and confirmation of mild acute pancreatitis.     

Laboratory diagnosis of acute pancreatitis: in search of the Holy Grail

Acute pancreatitis is an acute inflammatory condition of the pancreas, which might extend to local and distant extrapancreatic tissues. The global incidence varies between 17.5 and 73.4 cases per 100,000 and the pathogenesis recognizes alcohol exposure and biliary tract disease as the leading causes, ahead of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, drugs and abdominal trauma. The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis is substantially based on a combination of clinical signs and symptoms, imaging techniques and laboratory investigations. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography is the reference standard for the diagnosis, as well as for establishing disease severity. The assessment of pancreatic enzymes, early released from necrotic tissue, is the cornerstone of laboratory diagnosis in this clinical setting. Although there is no single test that shows optimal diagnostic accuracy, most current guidelines and recommendations indicate that lipase should be preferred over total and pancreatic amylase. Although a definitive diagnostic threshold cannot be identified, cut-offs comprised between ≥?2 and ≥?4 times the upper limit of the reference interval are preferable. The combination of amylase and lipase has been discouraged as although it marginally improves the diagnostic efficiency of either marker alone, it increases the cost of investigation. Some interesting biomarkers have been also suggested (e.g., serum and urinary trypsinogen-1, -2 and -3, phospholipase A2, pancreatic elastase, procalcitonin, trypsinogen activated protein, activation peptide of carboxypeptidase B, trypsin-2-alpha1 antitrypsin complex and circulating DNA), but none of them has found widespread application for a variety of reasons, including the inferior diagnostic accuracy when compared with the traditional enzymes, the use of cumbersome techniques, or their recent discovery. The promising results of recent proteomics studies showed that this innovative technique might allow the identification of changes characterizing pancreatic tissue injury, thus highlighting new potential biomarkers of acute pancreatitis.     

Acute pancreatitis presenting as acute inferior wall ST-segment elevations on electrocardiography

Over recent years, much attention has been directed toward the optimal way to rule out acute coronary syndromes and myocardial infarction in patients presenting with chest pain. The electrocardiogram (ECG) is one of the single most important tools in this process. Acute pancreatitis has been shown to be associated with ECG changes that can mimic acute myocardial ischemia. These ECG changes, in association with the epigastric pain and the occasional hemodynamic instability found in acute pancreatitis, have frequently prompted invasive coronary evaluation and even thrombolytic therapy. We present a case of a man with multiple risk factors for coronary artery disease who presented with chest pressure and ECG changes suggesting an acute inferior wall myocardial infarction. He had an angiogram that revealed normal coronary arteries and, subsequently, was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis based on suggestive pancreatic enzymes and computed tomography of the abdomen.     

Update on Acute Pancreatitis: Ultrasound, Computed Tomography, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features

Imaging of patients with acute pancreatitis requires an understanding of the subtypes and complications that were defined at the Atlanta symposium in 1992. In the last decade, several new entities have been recognized with important clinical implications. In this article, the radiological aspects of the terminology and classification of acute pancreatitis are reviewed and new entities are clarified. The roles of ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis and evaluation of acute pancreatitis and its complications are discussed and the limitations of each imaging technique, when interpreting pancreatic and peripancreatic inflammatory disease, are addressed.