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

• 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