Development and Congenital Anomalies of the Pancreas

Hiroyuki Tadokoro,Bunsei Nobukawa,Masaru Takase

doi:10.1155/2011/351217

Hiroyuki Tadokoro, Bunsei Nobukawa + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/351217

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Abstract

Understanding how the pancreas develops is essential to understand the pathogenesis of congenital pancreatic anomalies. Recent studies have shown the advantages of investigating the development of frogs, mice, and chickens for understanding early embryonic development of the pancreas and congenital anomalies, such as choledochal cysts, anomalous pancreaticobiliary junction, annular pancreas, and pancreas divisum. These anomalies arise from failure of complete rotation and fusion during embryogenesis. There are many theories in the etiology of congenital anomalies of the pancreas. We review pancreas development in humans and other vertebrates. In addition, we attempt to clarify how developmental failure is related to congenital pancreatic anomalies.

Highlights

In the 19th century, early embryonic development of the pancreas in mammals and other vertebrates was investigated
Many histological studies of human and other mammalian embryos have confirmed that the ventral pancreatic anlage occurs in a paired condition [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
It is believed that the ventral pancreatic anlage is initially paired, with the left lobe subsequently disappearing during development [1, 2, 8, 9]

Summary

Introduction

In the 19th century, early embryonic development of the pancreas in mammals and other vertebrates was investigated. It has become clear that early pancreas development in humans closely resembles that of mice and frogs [9, 10], whereas in chickens and frogs, the left ventral anlage persists, and the two ventral buds fuse together and become part of the mature organ [10, 11]. Anomalous pancreaticobiliary junction (APBJ) is a congenital anomaly in which the pancreatic and biliary ducts join outside the duodenal wall and form an abnormally long common channel [13] This anomaly is closely related with choledochal cysts, because >90% of cysts are complicated with APBJ. Pancreas divisum is a congenital anomaly in which ventral and dorsal pancreatic ducts do not fuse together. The aim of this paper is to review normal development of the pancreas and how this relates to human congenital anomalies

Embryonic Development of the Pancreas and Biliary Tree

Choledochal Cysts

Annular Pancreas

Pancreas Divisum

Findings

Conclusion