ct scan result showed bigger than normal pancreas

by betty
(toronto, canada)

My respiratory specialist referred a CT for pleural base thickening. The CT result showed both my lung and chest are normal. But then the doctor said the result showed my pancreas is bigger than normal. What is the implication of that? However he added that the size is the same as the CT result I did 3 years ago? What would that be? The doctor said he would go to the hospital to see the CT pictures. If necessary, he would ask me to do a test. What test would that be?

An Enlarged Pancreas

Betty, an enlarged pancreas on CT may not have any significance at all. If the pancreas is uniformly enlarged, this may be just a normal variant for you. Pancreatic enlargement can occur from previous pancreatitis or inflamed pancreas. It can also occur with tumours, but you would normally see a discrete area within the pancreas that has a tumour rather than diffuse pancreatic enlargement. If the pancreatic duct is blocked, this can cause pancreatic enlargement and infiltrative conditions such as amyloid or granulomatous conditions could potentially cause this.

As far as the “test” that your doctor was alluding to, I’m not quite sure what they mean by this. There are pancreatic tests that can be done to look at function of the pancreas and also a test called a CA19-9 blood test that is a marker of pancreatic cancer. However, this is not a reliable test in this situation as it can go up in inflammatory and infective conditions that can affect the blood test.

My name is Dr Peter Thatcher MBBS, MRCPI and I am a consultant physician and gastroenterologist in the UK. I have an interest in internet based medicine and administer this site in my spare time. I hope you find this site useful and informative. If you have any suggestions, please Contact Me or if you would like to comment on my site, please do so by Clicking Here. If you like the site and would like to make a donation to support what I am doing please do so by Clicking Here. Thank you for visiting and please drop by again!