Take Care of Your Pancreas!

Patients have various clinical forms of acute destructive pancreatitis (AP). Intensity and type of the clinical presentation depend on the phase of the pathological process. Thus, at early phases of acute destructive pancreatitis the signs of enzymatic toxemia prevail. Purulo-septic complications are typical of late phases of the desease.

The changes in blood properties during laboratory research (red blood colour, developed leukocytic formula, leucocytosis, increase in ESR) are auxiliary signs of the disease. The disfunction of the pancreas and liver at different phases of the desease is determined during biochemical investigation.

Ultasonic tomography (UST) is a fast, high-quality non-invasive method of direct diagnostics of acute pancreatitis. We’ve observed a number of sonographic variants of AP.

The enlargement of the pancreas proportionally to the edema is typical of the edematic form of AP. The visible contours of the pancreas are even and clear-cut. Echogenicity of the pancreas is educed diffusely and irregularly in different parts. The local decrease in echogenicity corresponding to the place of the maximum edema is typical of the segmental and local variants of affection. In most cases the echostructure of the parenchyma is homogeneous and the structure of stromal tissue elements was preserved. In case of diffusive affection we usually observe heterogeneity in all parts depending on the degree of the edema. When liquid gathers in the omental bursa we observe an echo-free area of different size as the distance between the back wall of the stomach and the forward surface of the pancreas increased.