CYSTIC FIBROSIS OF THE PANCREAS

Abstract

The essential lesion of the disease now known as cystic fibrosis of the pancreas has been seen by pathologists for many years, but it was not until Andersen¹ in 1938 correlated the pancreatic changes with the development of steatorrhea and pneumonia that the condition was recognized as a definite clinical entity. Children suffering from this condition show clinically failure to gain weight, wasting, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, protuberant abdomen, bulky fatty intestinal contents, cough and terminal bronchopneumonia. Andersen first reported 27 cases from the literature and 22 cases from records of necropsies at the Babies Hospital in New York. A total of 123 cases was reported by August 1943. In only a few of the 123 cases was the condition diagnosed ante mortem, and in only 3 was treatment attended with any measure of success. A comprehensive bibliography of the previous reports is included in a recent survey by