Pancreatic exocrine dysfunction

Abstract

Pancreatic exocrine dysfunction can present clinically either as an acute illness, a destructive process, or a condition such as pancreatic insufficiency or chronic abdominal pain. Acute pancreatitis is associated with injury to the pancreas through direct trauma, occasional viral infections, hyperlipidemia, cholelithiasis, alcohol abuse, hypercalcemia, or other factors that trigger intrapancreatic trypsinogen activation in susceptible individuals or that activate the immune system directly. Research is moving toward developing new methods to prevent idiopathic pancreatitis in highly susceptible individuals. Gene testing can already identify asymptomatic individuals in whom the risk of developing pancreatitis is increased by several 100-fold. © 2006 Humana Press Inc.