Radiation pancreatitis: a necropsy study.

The responses of the normal pancrease to radiation administered to the abdomen, sacro-iliac joints and thoraco-lumbal vertebrae was studied in necropsy material. Changes were observed in every case. They consisted of vascular damage, oedema, fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration of the interstitial tissue. There were changes affecting the secretory cells of the pancreatic glands and the epithelial lining of the intercalated ducts. Hyalinization of the islets of Langerhans was seen and there were scattered foci of necrosis. It is suggested that the type of histological changes may be correlated with the duration of survival after the exposure to radiation. The normal pancreas shows considerable damages on exposure to radiotherapy, but owing to its large reserve capacity clinical manifestations of the damage are infrequent