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The Size of the Pancreas in Diabetes Mellitus
Author(s) -
Alzaid A.,
Aideyan O.,
Nawaz S.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/j.1464-5491.1993.tb00160.x
Subject(s) - medicine , diabetes mellitus , pancreas , insulin , endocrinology , type 2 diabetes , type 1 diabetes , basal (medicine) , gastroenterology
To determine whether there was an association between the size of the pancreas and the type of diabetes, ultrasonography of the pancreas was performed on 57 diabetic patients: 14 with Type 1 (insulin‐dependent) diabetes, 10 insulin‐treated and 33 tablet‐treated patients with Type 2 (non‐insulin‐dependent) diabetes, and 19 non‐diabetic subjects. The pancreas of patients with Type 1 diabetes was markedly smaller ( p < 0.0001) than the pancreas in non‐diabetic subjects. The pancreas of patients with Type 2 diabetes was more moderate in size: larger ( p < 0.001) than that of Type 1 diabetic patients but smaller ( p < 0.5) than the pancreas of the control group. Pancreatic size of patients with Type 2 diabetes was also related to basal insulin secretion with insulin‐deficient patients (low or undetectable C‐peptide) having smaller ( p < 0.05) pancreases than those with normal insulin secretion. There was no difference in the size of the pancreas in the different treatment groups of Type 2 diabetic patients. Pancreatic size did not correlate with age, body mass index or the duration of diabetes. We conclude that the pancreas is a smaller organ in patients with diabetes mellitus and that the decrement in size is maximal in insulin‐dependent/insulin‐deficient subjects. Ultrasonography, therefore, can potentially serve to discriminate between the different types of diabetes.