Open AccessPancreatic Islet Abnormalities in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Author(s) -
Hisaoka Masanori,
Haratake Joji,
Nakamura Yasuhiro,
Itoh Yohko
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
acta patholigica japonica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 74
ISSN - 0001-6632
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1827.1992.tb01892.x
Subject(s) - nesidioblastosis , pancreas , endocrine system , autopsy , medicine , islet , sudden death , pathology , enteroendocrine cell , sudden infant death syndrome , endocrinology , dysplasia , diabetes mellitus , hormone , pediatrics
The pancreata of 15 autopsy cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and those of 14 age‐ matched controls were examined qualitatively and quantitatively to re‐evaluate the relationship between pancreatic islet abnormalities and sudden death in infancy. Histopathologically, a diffuse or focal form of nesidioblastosis and septal islets were frequently observed in the pancreata of both groups. Endocrine cell dysplasia was found only in 2 infants who had died of SIDS. Quantitatively, there was little difference of islet cell composition between the SlDS cases and the controls. A relatively high proportion of islet cell area to total pancreatic tissue area was demonstrated in the SlDS group (8.46±4.90% in the pancreatic head; 8.66±4.23% in the pancreatic body to tail) in comparison with the controls (5.32±1.77%; 5.63±1.60%). Although nesidioblastosis and septal islets were considered to be within the limits of normal variation during pancreatic development, endocrine cell dysplasia and quantitatively unusual proliferation of the pancreatic endocrine tissue suggest the possibility that abnormalities in the endocrine pancreas may be causally related to sudden death in infancy. Acta Pathol Jpn 42: 870–875, 1992.