Skip to main content

Pancreatic Carcinoma Summary Notes

 ⒸPathologynuggets.blogspot.com Notes to review for medical students, residents, and doctors.

Risk Factors:

Diabetes mellitus, Chronic pancreatitis, Hereditary Pancreatitis, Cigarette Smoking



Courvoisier Sign of Pancreatic Cancer:

Pancreatic cancer has jaundice which is painless, and gallbladder is palpable below right costal margin.

Trousseau Sign of Pancreatic Carcinoma:

It is associated with recurrent migratory thrombophlebitis.

Other findings suggestive of this cancer are:

weight loss, anorexia, dull abdominal pain which is worse at night.

Other important associations include new onset Diabetes Mellitus and non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis.

Diagnosis:



Imaging by Ultrasonography or CT scan is test of choice. CT Scan shows "double-duct sign". Definitive diagnosis is by biopsy and histologic examination. If these tests are inconclusive, Endoscopic ultrasound or ERCP with brushings/biopsy for histopathology can be done.

Role of CA 19-9 in pancreatic cancer: It does not have a role in screening or diagnosis. It is useful in post-operative monitoring for recurrence.

Other investigations that can be helpful include Liver Function Tests, serum amylase, lipase, complete blood count.

Pancreatic carcinoma is one of the major GI malignancies that requires expert treatment and management.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Different types of Heart Murmurs with Sound

ⒸPathologynuggets. Notes to review for medical students, residents, and doctors  Hello! welcome to our new blog post on cardiac murmurs. In this blog post about heart murmurs, we review the most common types of heart murmurs. Murmur is the sound of blood flowing abnormally through the heart valves and most often signs of valve disorders. If you are new to the blog, don't forget to show your support by like and subscribe. Read till the end of the blog for some bonus tips! Now let's continue our review. Normal heart sounds consist of sounds S1 and S2. S1 represents closure of mitral valve and tricuspid valves at the beginning of systole. S2 represents the closure of aortic and pulmonic valves at beginning of diastole. Thus, the interval between s1 and s2 represents systole, and in this interval systolic murmurs are heard Similarly, diastolic murmurs are heard at the interval between s2 and s1. So, what are the most common types of heart murmurs? For easy understanding, we can di...

Approach to Types of Vasculitis -- Easy review notes of Large, Medium, Small vessel and other Vasculitides

  ⒸPathologynuggets. Notes to review for medical students, residents, and doctors. Vasculitides are autoimmuine disorders characterized by inflammation of blood vessels. Most of them are chronic systemic disorders that affect the multiple systems and should be considered in differential diagnoses of any multisystem illness. Vasculitis can be divided into large vessel, medium vessel or small vessel vasculitis based on the size of the vessels involved. Large Vessel Vasculitis ‌Giant cell arterities or Temporal arteritis Takayasu arterities Medium Vessel Vasculitis ‌Polyarterities Nodosa Kawasaki Disease Small Vessel Vasculitis ‌Granulomatosis with Polyangitis(GPA) ‌Microscopic polyangitis (MPA) ‌Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangitis (EGPA)               **  Small vessel vasculitides GPA, MPA and EGPA are also known as ANCA                        ...

Types of fractures -- General Anatomy topic quick review

  Pathologynuggets.blogspot.com 2023 1. What type of fracture occurs when the bone breaks but does not penetrate the skin? A. Compound fracture B. Greenstick fracture C. Closed fracture D. Spiral fracture __________ The answer is at the end of this article. Types of fractures Based on the position of the bony fragments after fracture, fractures can be either displaced or non-displaced.      Displaced Fracture         The bone breaks into two or more pieces and shifts out of alignment.      Non-Displaced Fracture      The bone breaks without shifting out of alignment. Based on the involvement of overlying skin, fractures can be either closed or open.      Closed Fracture The skin remains intact despite the bone breakage.      Open Fracture The bone breaks through the skin, requiring immediate medical attention as it is considered a medical emergency. Avulsion Fracture occurs whe...