[Excessive hyperplasia of the exocrine pancreatic tissue and Wernicke's encephalopathy (author's transl)].

A 52 year old woman with a history of mild pancreatitis had a palpable mass in the upper abdomen. She died in an unexplained coma. The autopsy revealed an excessive hyperplasia of the exocrine pancreatic tissue resulting in the largest pancreas ever reported (254 gramm). This hyperplasia was accompanied by a chronic pancreatitis. In the central nervous system a Wernick's encephalopathy had developed; severe loss of neurons was stated in the thalamus; extensive degeneration was found in the upper vermis of the cerebellum. The discussion of this case includes the relationship between the diseases of the pancreas and neuropsychiatric and neuropathologic findings. It is assumed that the hyperplasia of the exocrine pancreatic tissue could only be an additional factor in the occurence of post alcoholic complications. This hyperplasia of the exocrine pancreatic tissue is considered to be a hamartom-like formation and it should therefore be distinguished from other pancreatic hyperplasia.