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Overview :
Tropical chronic pancreatitis is a form of chronic
pancreatitis that occurs in the developing countries of the tropics. While
several mechanisms have been proposed, the precise cause is uncertain.
Synonyms include: tropical calcific pancreatitis, tropical
pancreatic diabetes, nutritional pancreatitis, juvenile pancreatitis,
fibrocalculous pancreatopathy, fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes
Clinical features:
(1) younger age of onset (second or third decade)
(2) relatively rapid course
(3) not related to alcohol abuse
(4) presence of large calculi within the pancreatic ducts
(5) marked dilatation of the pancreatic ducts with diffuse
fibrosis of the parenchyma
(6) typically the patient is very lean
Classic clinical triad:
(1) abdominal pain
(2) steatorrhea
(3) pancreatitic diabetes
Complications:
(1) high rate of pancreatic carcinoma
(2) pseudocysts
(3) pancreatic abscess
(4) ascites
(5) complications of diabetes
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