What is Wirsung?
The pancreatic duct, or duct of Wirsung (also, the major pancreatic duct due to the existence of an accessory pancreatic duct), is a duct joining the pancreas to the common bile duct. This supplies it with pancreatic juice from the exocrine pancreas, which aids in digestion.
What does it mean when your pancreas is dilated?
A dilated pancreatic duct can arise from benign or malignant disease or can be a variant of normal in the right clinical setting. Dilated pancreatic ducts can arise from solid or cystic pancreatic tumors and, in the right setting, may warrant endoscopic evaluation and therapy, including stenting and dilation.
Does a dilated pancreatic duct always mean cancer?
Although pancreatic duct dilation alone does not always provide accurate information to distinguish the normal from the diseased pancreas, chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer are the two most common diseases causing main pancreatic duct dilation[5-7].
What is the treatment for dilated pancreatic duct?
Endoscopy or surgery for patients with chronic pancreatitis and dilated pancreatic duct. Endoscopy and surgery are the treatments of choice in patients with chronic pancreatitis and a dilated pancreatic duct. Pain is the most important symptom in this disease and can be severely debilitating.
What is the normal size of pancreatic duct?
diameters of the pancreatic duct, measured in the body, were arbitrarily divided into three groups: normal (under 0.8 mm), medium (0.8-3.0 mm), and large (over 3.0 mm).
Is a dilated pancreas serious?
Conclusion: Slight dilatation of the main pancreatic duct appears to be a sign of high risk for pancreatic cancer. The systematic examination of high-risk subjects is recommended for the early detection of pancreatic cancer.
How serious is a dilated pancreatic duct?
Can a dilated pancreatic duct cause pain?
The most common presenting symptom being abdominal pain (n = 105). The common bile duct was the most frequently found dilated duct (n = 94) followed by both the pancreatic and common bile ducts (n = 30).
What causes dilated bile and pancreatic ducts?
Simultaneous dilation of both the common bile duct and the pancreatic duct (double-duct sign) is usually because of ampullary or pancreatic tumours.
What causes a blockage in the pancreas?
Biliary obstruction can result from other conditions like pancreatitis — which is chronic inflammation in your pancreas. Other causes. Your bile duct can become blocked if you get an injury in your abdomen. It may also occur due to infections, especially if you are taking drugs to suppress your immune system.