Detection of HBsAg in the pancreas

Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) has been reported to be present in other organs than the liver. 3,9 So far as our knowledge is concerned, however, any report of cases dealing with pancreatic diseased induced by hepatitis B virus (HBV) has not been described in the English and Japanese literature. We report an autopsy case with a pancreatic lesion characterized by damage of both exocrine and endocrine epithelial cells with inflammatory responses, which were immunohistochemically found to be positive for HBsAg, and electron-microscopically to possess core-like particles in the nucleus and cytoplasm.