THE ETIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY OF CYSTS OF THE PANCREAS

Abstract

In a previous communication¹ we reported on a clinical study of forty-seven cases of pancreatic cysts treated surgically at the Mayo Clinic in the last ten years. In this paper we shall consider: (1) the pathogenesis of cysts of the pancreas, (2) our classification and (3) the pathologic manifestations of such cysts. As a basis for our study, we reviewed the literature, the records at the clinic and the operative and necropsy material obtained in eighty-eight cases of cysts of the pancreas treated surgically, as well as that in twenty cases in which such cysts were discovered incidentally at necropsy. Comparatively little experimental work has been done on the production of cysts in the pancreas. Senn² ligated the pancreatic duct in dogs but was unable to produce a cyst, although it appeared that ectasia of the duct followed the ligation. He concluded that factors other than mere obstruction