AN ANALYSIS OF 46 AUTOPSY CASES OF JAPANESE CHILDREN, SHOWING FIBROCYSTIC CHANGES OF THE PANCREAS AND ONE CASE OF FIBROCYSTIC DISEASE OF THE PANCREAS

Abstract

More than twenty cases of meconium ileus or fibrocystic disease of the pancreas in Japanese children were reported, only four of which were examined for sweat electrolytes. Two cases out of the four, including our case, showed abnormally high sweat electrolyte levels with a reasonable ratio of sodium to chloride. The majority of cases reported, in Japan, as fibrocystic disease of the pancreas was diagnosed on the basis of clinical symptoms of the disease and on the findings of fibrocystic changes of the pancreas. According to the analysis of the 46 cases, selected from 422 autopsy cases, fibrocystic changes of the pancreas were found. It is known that fibrocystic changes of the pancreas is not a specific change in fibrocystic disease, but is the result of miscellaneous unknown causes. Therefore, the results of the sweat test should be recorded, besides the histological findings of the pancreas, in cases reported as fibrocystic disease of the pancreas in Oriental races. A case of fibrocystic disease of the pancreas diagnosed by clinical symptoms, findings of the chest X-ray, and the results of abnormally high sweat electrolyte levels with reasonable ratio of sodium to chloride, was also reported.