Hepatic lesions in pancreatitis. Clinicoexperimental data

Patients with active liver cirrhosis display greater abnormality in pancreatic function tests, viz. steatorrhea, hyperamylasemia, than patients with inactive cirrhosis. In autopsy specimens taken from patients dying from cirrhosis, parallel morphologic changes were noted in the liver and pancreas, viz. in postnecrotic cirrhosis, necrosis and necrobiosis predominated in the pancreas. In patients with portal cirrhosis, sclerotic changes rather than necrobiosis was observed in the pancreas. On the other hand, experimental acute and chronic pancreatitis induced in dogs displayed hepatic lesions whose degree and extent were correlated with the duration of the pancreatic inflammation.