Diseases of the pancreas lead to changes in its structure, which is what they use to conduct ultrasonography. This often changes not only the structure, but the size of the gland. Its dimensions can vary greatly for each person, which means that the evaluation of this parameter is subjective and is based on the experience of the doctor.
The examination of the gland on ultrasound allows us to determine not only the echogenic structure of the organ that can be lowered, normal or increased, but also the volume of changes from focal to diffuse. Particular attention is paid to such changes as stones, tumors and pseudocysts in the pancreas.
In acute pancreatitis, the changes may be of the following character:
- Body contours become fuzzy;
- The pancreas increases in size;
- Swelling of parapancreatic tissue is noted.
Often in the ultrasonographic study, pseudocysts are seen whose contours are usually clear, and the structure is homogeneous. On average, the thickness of the walls of these formations does not exceed 4 mm, but in cases of thickening up to 10 mm and the appearance of heterogeneity, there is every reason to assume that pancreatitis is accompanied by abscessing. Pancreatic abscesses occur against the background of the development of chronic pancreatitis. One in ten patients with pancreatitis on ultrasound can see changes in the region of the gland's head in the form of biliary hypertension.
Quite complex and incomprehensible for diagnosis, may look like a picture of the structure changes in the gland of patients with chronic pancreatitis in the early stages, while the pancreas looks like a normal, uncontrolled inflammatory process, the organ. Then, with the passage of time and the progression of the disease, its structure will gradually change, reflecting the harmfulness of the processes occurring in it. Moreover, even in the stage of remission, pathological processes in the pancreas do not stop, but only slow down. The gradual erosion of organ tissues by enzymes leads to its replacement by a fibrous tissue, which has a more dense structure and at least becomes part of the gland, does not perform any functions peculiar to a healthy organ. In elderly people, long suffering from chronic pancreatitis, it changes in a different scenario, in which the tissues of the body are replaced not by fibrous, but fat. Moreover, in addition to the age and "length of service" of the pancreatic disease, the patient should have diabetes mellitus.