title: Radiological appearance of pancreatic calculi in tropical versus alcoholic chronic pancreatitis.
abstract: Tropical and alcoholic forms of chronic pancreatitis differ in their clinical, aetiological and epidemiological features. We compared the radiological appearances of pancreatic calculi seen on plain roentgenogram of the abdomen of 89 patients with tropical calcific pancreatitis (TCP) and 32 patients with alcoholic calcific pancreatitis (ACP) seen in Madras, Southern India. While TCP was characterized by the frequent occurrence of large, discrete, dense calculi, patients with ACP had typically small, speckled calculi with irregular, hazy margins. The calculi in TCP resembled those described for hereditary pancreatitis. This is the first report comparing the radiological appearances of TCP and ACP patients seen at the same centre.
authors.affiliation: Tamil Nadu Arasu Medical Science and Research Institute, Madras, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chari
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jayanthi
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malathi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Madanagopalan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Viswanathan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications*; D002137:Calculi / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D011859:Radiography; D014329:Tropical Climate