title: Sudden death and lipomatous infiltration of the heart involved by fat necrosis resulting from acute pancreatitis.
abstract: The possible causal link between damage to the heart and acute pancreatitis and other pancreatic diseases has been considered in both adults and children, particularly in cases of sudden, unexpected death. However, the cardiac pathological findings so far reported in the literature are neither specific enough, nor of a kind to prove a direct pancreatic pathogenesis. We describe the occurrence of steatonecrosis developed in areas of lipomatous infiltration of the heart following acute exacerbation of latent chronic pancreatitis. The presence of mature adipocytes in the myocardium is an adequate substrate for the pancreatic lipase to give rise to the steatonecrosis, which is a well-known marker of acute pancreatitis. As far as we are aware, this is the first reported case of heart steatonecrosis in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Services, Pathology and Legal Medicine, Section of Pathology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy. emailmedical@gmail.com
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Roncati
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gualandri
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fortuni
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barbolini
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D005218:Fat Necrosis / Q000473:pathology*; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006801:Humans; D008068:Lipomatosis / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D010179:Pancreas / Q000473:pathology; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology