Size of the pancreas in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients.

We investigated the relationship between the size of the pancreas in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients (NIDDs) and normal subjects, and also the possible correlation between pancreatic size in diabetics and basal C-peptide concentrations. Eighty-four non-insulin-dependent diabetics and eighty control subjects matched for age, sex and body mass index (BMI) were studied, using a realtime sector system, with which we measured the head and body of the pancreas in cm2. Scans were performed twice in 50 subjects with no significant difference. Both the head and the body of the pancreas were significantly smaller in diabetics (4.60 +/- 1.10 cm2, 5.92 +/- 1.53 cm2, respectively) than in normal subjects (6.09 +/- 1.62 cm2, 7.43 +/- 2.14 cm2) (p less than 0.001). The mean total area of the pancreas for the diabetics was 10.53 +/- 2.45 cm2, and for the controls 13.53 +/- 3.60 cm2 (p less than 0.001). No correlation was found between the total area of the pancreas and the BMI in the two groups. In the diabetic group, there was a positive correlation between C-peptide and the total area of the pancreas (r = 0.30, p less than 0.01). We concluded that the size of the pancreas is smaller in NIDDs than in healthy controls, and there is a positive correlation with the basal C-peptide concentration.