Med_students0about 1 year ago

Pancreatic divisum

🔺 Pancreatic divisum is a congenital anomaly in the anatomy of the ducts of the pancreas in which a single pancreatic duct is not formed, but rather remains as two distinct dorsal and ventral ducts. 🔺 A majority of individuals born with pancreas divisum will not have symptoms. In some cases, pancreas divisum is only detected during autopsy.A small group of individuals will develop symptoms which commonly include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and acute and chronic pancreatitis. 💢 The human embryo begins life with two ducts in the pancreas, the ventral duct and the dorsal duct. Normally, the two ducts will fuse together to form one main pancreatic duct; this occurs in more than 90% of embryos. In approximately 10% of embryos the ventral and dorsal ducts fail to fuse together, resulting in pancreas divisum. 💢 Pancreas divisum in individuals with no symptoms does not require treatment. Treatment of those with symptoms varies and has not been well established. A surgeon may attempt a sphincterotomy by cutting the minor papilla to enlarge the opening and allow pancreatic enzymes to flow normally