Image of pancreatic hypoplasia in a dog from Cornell Veterinary Medicine
- Occurs in calves, dogs (German Shepherd Dogs are the prevalent breed) and cats
- Endocrine part of the pancreas seems unaffected
Clinical signs
- Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency
- Occurs at about one year of age
- Onset often preceded by another illness
Gross appearance
- Pot-bellied appearance on external view
- Intestines are distended by bulky fatty ingesta
- Lack of fat in the mesentery and rest of the abdomen
- The pancreas appears extremely thin and almost lace-like, is sparse and pink, easily visible due to lack of fat
- The hypoplastic pancreas may be inconspicuous at laparotomy or post mortem examination owing to its small size
Microscopic appearance
- Tiny lobules with glandular cells, some appear to be undergoing regression, hence the alternative view that the pancreas is normal at birth but undergoes progressive regression - juvenile atrophy
- Hypoplastic parenchymal cells do not usually contain lipofuscin, which can be seen in atrophic cells