Lipomatosis of the pancreas. A morphometrical investigation.

The study was performed in 50 human autoptic pancreata. After postmortem ductography and formalin fixation the organs were cut in slices of 8 mm thickness. After paraffinembedding histological sections were made from these slices. In photographical magnification (20 X) of these sections the amount of adipose tissue and pancreatic parenchyma were measured by morphometric means. The length of the pancreatic duct was determined in the radiographs. The data were evaluated by statistical methods. The share of the adipose tissue and the total weight of the pancreata are positively correlated depending on age and body weight. In contrast the weight of the pancreatic parenchyma shows no correlation to age, body length and weight. The amount of lipomatosis is the same in the various parts of the dorsal pancreatic anlage. On the other hand, the amount is clearly diminished in the ventral anlage. In the lipomatous pancreata the main duct is longer than in the normal. The lipomatosis of the pancreas is not correlated with a loss of parenchyma, which means, that there is not a true lipomatous atrophy. Even if the parenchyma in the lipomatous pancreata is replaced by fat tissue, which includes the undestroyed pancreatic islets, the parenchymal weight of the pancreas remains unchanged. This and the lengthening of the pancreatic duct in lipomatous organs allow the conclusion that the loss of parenchyma may be compensated by new parenchymal growth.