Yang et al.

BMC Endocrine Disorders (2019) 19:120

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-019-0449-1

CASE REPORT Open Access

Agenesis of the dorsal pancreas presenting

with diabetic ketoacidosis – a case report
and literature review
Tian Yang1* , Xudan Yang2, Luping Wang1 and Jun Mo3

Abstract
Background: Agenesis of the dorsal pancreas (ADP) is clinically rare, and it is usually accompanied by abdominal
pain. Various disorders of glucose metabolism associating with ADP have been reported, but there are only two
studies reporting a correlation between ADP and DKA in English literature.
Case presentation: We present a case of a patient with ADP accompanied by abdominal pain and diabetic
ketoacidosis as the initial clinical presentation. A 30-year-old man presented with a 3-month history of recurrent
onset of persistent mild epigastric pain, which worsen when eating. Laboratory tests revealed metabolic acidosis,
hyperglycemia, and ketonuria. Phase contrast CT and MRCP showed the absence of the body and tail of the
pancreas, as well as the dorsal pancreatic duct. The C-peptide release test indicated β-cell dysfunction. A
combination therapy of insulin, pancreatic enzyme supplements, and mosapride citrate were administrated and the
pain gradually resolved.
Conclusions: As glucose metabolism disorders can vary across different individuals, we advise clinicians to consider
the diagnosis of ADP for a patient who presents with a glucose metabolism disorder accompanied by abdominal
pain, pancreatitis or steatorrhea.
Keywords: Agenesis of the dorsal pancreas, Diabetic ketoacidosis, Diabetes mellitus, C-peptide release test

Background Case presentation

Agenesis of the dorsal pancreas (ADP) is a rare congeni- A 30-year-old man referred to our hospital presented
tal anomaly caused by the failure of the dorsal pancreatic with a 3-month history of recurrent onset of persistent
bud to develop the body and tail of the pancreas during mild epigastric pain, which worsen when eating. The
embryological development [1]. A key clinical manifest- patient took a lot of sugary beverages one week before
ation of ADP is abdominal pain, although ADP often his admission to the hospital. He had no history of diar-
associates with hyperglycemia as a result of β-cell rhea, dry mouth, polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, and
dysfunction and insulin deficiency [2]. However, there gastrointestinal disease. The family history was noncon-
are only two studies reporting a correlation between tributory. His mother died of gynecological cancer at age
ADP and DKA in English literature [3, 4]. Here, we 50. His father had no history of hyperglycemia or
present a third case of a patient with ADP accompanied chronic abdominal pain, and the abdominal CT scan
by abdominal pain and DKA. showed a normal pancreas. His only younger sister had
no special medical history as well. A physical examin-
ation revealed that the patient was in good shape (body
mass index 22.7 kg/m2). He was conscious but dehy-
drated. He had a soft but tender abdomen, and his heart
* Correspondence: [email protected] and lung functions were normal. His vital signs were
1
Department of Endocrinology, Fourth Affiliated Hospital, School of also normal.
Medicine, Zhejiang University, Yiwu, 322000, Shangcheng Road N1, Yiwu,
Zhejiang, China
Laboratory tests (Table 1) revealed metabolic acidosis
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article with an arterial blood pH of 7.3 and a base excess of − 8.9
© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
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Yang et al. BMC Endocrine Disorders (2019) 19:120 Page 2 of 5

mmol/L. The random plasma glucose level was 576 mg/ that the sugary beverages might resulted in high blood
dL, with urinalysis revealing glycosuria and ketonuria. glucose, which may contribute to DKA in this patient.
The glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level was 147 mmol/ According to the ADA’s standard of classification and
mol, and the serum lactic acid level was within normal diagnosis of diabetes, the diagnosis of “Specific types of
range. Levels of carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer diabetes due to other causes” was established [1, 2]. The
antigen 199 were also within normal ranges. The results patient received insulin therapy (insulin glargine 12 units
of liver function, serum amylase, lipase, C-reactive pro- at bedtime and biosynthetic human insulin 16 units with
tein, and microalbuminuria tests, as well as the 24-h meals) and was followed up.
urine protein level, were within normal ranges. The pa-
tient was negative for the glutamic acid decarboxylase
antibody, islet cell antibody, and insulin autoantibody. Discussion and conclusions
The patient was diagnosed with DKA and received The pancreas develops from the ventral and dorsal buds,
standard treatment for the condition, which included which fuse during the seventh week of gestation. The
intravenous fluids, insulin therapy, and potassium ventral bud gives rise to the uncinate process, post-
replacement. inferior portion of the head, and Wirsung duct, whereas
DKA resolved gradually after insulin therapy, but the the dorsal bud, which drains into the minor papilla
abdominal pain continued. Additional phase contrast through the Santorini duct, gives rise to the upper head,
CT of the abdomen was performed and revealed an en- body and tail [5]. Monogenic mutations in insulin pro-
larged pancreatic head (Fig. 1A), without the body and moter factor 1 [6], pancreas associated transcription
tail of the pancreas (Fig. 1B). A further investigation of factor 1 [7], and transcription factor-2 / hepatocyte
MRCP revealed the absence of the dorsal pancreatic nuclear factor-1 homeobox B [8] have been reported to
duct and a short duct of Wirsung running into the associate with pancreatic agenesis, multigenic traits are
major papilla (Fig. 1C). On the basis of these findings, a likely to contribute to this disorder. However, one
diagnosis of complete ADP was evident, and we believed limitation should be noted that we didn’t have genetic
that the pain was due to dysfunction of the pancreas. analysis in the presented case as the patient refused
Low-fat diet was recommended, and pancreatic enzyme DNA sequencing test.
supplements as well as mosapride citrate were given We reviewed the articles published between January
with meals to facilitate the digestive process. The pain 2008 and August 2019 and 75 cases of ADP were identi-
gradually resolved and went away in 7 days after the fied. Of the 75 cases, 53 cases that had been reported by
treatment. Cienfuegos were excluded from the study [9]. Clinical
A standard mixed-meal tolerance test was performed presentation, pancreas imaging, and gene mutation re-
one month later to evaluate β-cell function. The fasting sults were extracted and summarized (Table 2). Al-
C-peptide level was 0.05 ng/mL, and the postprandial C- though the majority of ADP patients are asymptomatic,
peptide levels at 1, 2, and 3 h were 0.05, 0.07, and 0.06 abdominal pain is the most common reported symptom.
ng/mL (normal range, 1.1–4.4 ng/mL), whereas the fast- The abdominal pain may contribute to the dysfunction
ing plasma glucose level was 261 mg/dL, and the post- of the sphincter of Oddi and/or chronic pancreatitis
prandial glucose levels at 1, 2, and 3 h were 433, 455, accompanied by an elevated pancreatic intra-ductal pres-
and 433 mg/dL, respectively. According to the patient’s sure [10]. In this case, we at first believed that the pain
medical history and laboratory results, we speculated was caused by DKA. However, the abdominal pain
continued after rectifying the DKA, indicating that the
Table 1 Laboratory results of this patient abdominal pain was caused by ADP.
Results Reference Range Units Patients with ADP may also present with disorders of
White blood cell counting 8.7 3.5–9.5 109/L glucose metabolism, such as insulin-dependent diabetes,
Neutrophils 50.1 40–75 % high-fasting blood glucose levels, and non-insulin-
C reactive protein 0.3 0–8 mg/L
dependent diabetes [11]. According to the published re-
ports, approximately 50% of patients with ADP also have
Serum bilirubin 11.4 5.1–19.0 μmol/L
concomitant hyperglycemia [12]. Although β-cell dys-
Serum albumin 37.1 40–55 g/L function is often indicative of hyperglycemia, there are
Serum alkaline phosphate 48 35–100 U/L only two studies reporting a correlation between ADP
Serum aspartate 16 13–35 U/L and DKA [3, 4]. Four cases of ADP, including the
Serum amylase 75 35–135 U/L present one, had reported C-peptide test results, three of
Fasting plasma glucose 576 70–110 mg/dL
which showed low levels of fasting and postprandial C-
peptide associated with β-cell dysfunction [13, 14], and
HBA1c 147 16–42 mmol/mol
one case showed detectable C-peptide level of 0.47
Yang et al. BMC Endocrine Disorders (2019) 19:120 Page 3 of 5

Fig. 1 Contrast abdominal computed tomography scan showed the pancreatic head (a, red arrow), whereas the pancreatic body and tail are
absent (b, red arrow). Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography demonstrated the absence of the dorsal pancreatic duct (c, red arrow)

nmol/L [3]. Therefore, low insulin levels underlie most diabetes [12, 17], indicating that there are many degrees
of the glucose metabolism disorders, as islets and β-cells of β-cell dysfunction in patients with ADP.
are located in the tail of the pancreas [15, 16]. Previous Other abdominal symptoms including pancreatitis and
studies have reported variations in the severity of high- steatorrhea have also been reported [18, 19]. The re-
fasting blood glucose disorders and insulin-dependent ported incidence of pancreatitis was 30% [12], but it is

Table 2 Characteristics of the selected studies

Studies Clinical presentation Pancreas imaging Gene mutation
Devarbhavi PK Diabetic ketoacidosis Short pancreatic tail Not assessed
[3]
Sohn TS [4] Severe hypertriglyceridemia, and acute pancreatitis Pancreas tail and dorsal pancreas Not assessed
duct were not visualized
Caetano LA [5] Maturity onset diabetes of the young Caudal pancreatic agenesis Heterozygous variant in
PDX1
Caetano LA [5] Impaired glucose tolerance Short pancreas tail Heterozygous variant in
PDX1
Cienfuegos JA DM, mucinous cysts and chronic calcific non-alcoholic Mucinous cysts Not assessed
[9] pancreatitis
Liang K [14] DM Normal shape of pancreatic head Not assessed
Erotokritou A DM, nonspecific abdominal symptoms Neuroendocrine tumor Not assessed
[17]
Kawasaki S [19] Pancreatitis, Peutz-Jegher syndrome Normal shape of pancreatic head Not assessed
Alexander E [21] Pancreatic head cancer, obstructive jaundice Hypo-vascular lesion in the head Not assessed
Suh PS [22] DM Cystic mass lesion Not assessed
Suh PS [22] DM Calcified cystic mass Not assessed
Riguetto CM [23] DM, heterotaxy syndrome Enlarged pancreas head Not assessed
Sonkar SK [24] DM, recurrent loose stool and abdominal pain Agenesis of dorsal pancreas Not assessed
Jain A [25] DM, recurrent upper abdominal pain, fatigue Pancreatic body and tail were not Not assessed
visible in MRCP
Rodrigues P [26] Neuroendocrine tumor Nodular-lesion on pancreas head Not assessed
Chhabra P [27] Epigastric pain aggravated by meals Normal shape of pancreatic head Not assessed
Mustafa K [28] DM, polysplenia, Kartagener syndrome, polycystic kidney Hypertrophied ventral pancreas Not assessed
disease.
Kabnurkar R [29] Carcinoma of tongue Normal shape of pancreatic head Not assessed
Saikaly E [30] Mucinous adenocarcinoma and cystic teratoma Complex cystic lesion Not assessed
Shahzad R [31] No Agenesis of dorsal pancreas Not assessed
Robert AP [32] Right iliac fossa pain Normal shape of pancreatic head Not assessed
Nassif S [33] Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, endometrial stromal sarcoma Mass at the neck of the pancreas Not assessed
Yang et al. BMC Endocrine Disorders (2019) 19:120 Page 4 of 5

unclear whether the high frequency of pancreatitis in Author details

1
ADP patient was due to the requirement of imaging Department of Endocrinology, Fourth Affiliated Hospital, School of
Medicine, Zhejiang University, Yiwu, 322000, Shangcheng Road N1, Yiwu,
procedure for patient with pancreatitis. Steatorrhea in Zhejiang, China. 2Department of Internal Medicine, Jinhua Municipal Central
ADP patient was due to exocrine pancreatic insuffi- Hospital of, Zhejiang University, Jinhua, Zhejiang 321000, China. 3Department
ciency. Although the prevalence is much less common, of Neurosurgery, Fourth Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang
University, Yiwu, Zhejiang 322000, China.
most of the cases had concomitant hyperglycemia [18].
Imaging modalities are essential in the diagnosis of Received: 9 May 2019 Accepted: 28 October 2019
ADP, with ultrasonography as the most commonly used
approach for evaluating abdominal pain and other abdom-
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