Pancreatic Hypoplasia

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


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