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Anatomy Research International
Volume 2011 (2011), Article ID 351217, 7 pages
doi:10.1155/2011/351217
Development and Congenital Anomalies of the Pancreas
1Department of Gastroenterology, Asakadai Central Hospital, 1-8-10 Nishibenzai, Asaka, Saitama 351-2055, Japan
2Department of Human Pathology, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan
Received 16 December 2010; Accepted 28 February 2011
Academic Editor: Farzad Esni
Copyright © 2011 Hiroyuki Tadokoro et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Understanding how the pancreas develops is essential to understand the pathogenesis of congenital pancreatic anomalies. Recent studies have shown the advantages of investigating the development of frogs, mice, and chickens for understanding early embryonic development of the pancreas and congenital anomalies, such as choledochal cysts, anomalous pancreaticobiliary junction, annular pancreas, and pancreas divisum. These anomalies arise from failure of complete rotation and fusion during embryogenesis. There are many theories in the etiology of congenital anomalies of the pancreas. We review pancreas development in humans and other vertebrates. In addition, we attempt to clarify how developmental failure is related to congenital pancreatic anomalies.