Pancreatic calcification: a report of 45 cases

Forty-five cases of pancreatic calcification are reported, and it is shown that in Western Nigeria this malady afflicts younger people than in Europe and the United States of America. Males and females seem about equally affected in Western Nigeria, whereas it predominantly affects males in France, Britain, and North America. Diabetes mellitus was the commonest complication in this series, and brought many patients to the doctor. In this series chronic relapsing pancreatitis was a rare cause; there was no history of alcoholism; and protein malnutrition was thought to be responsible for pancreatic calcification in over 90% of the patients.