Size of Pancreas in Non-insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus: A Study Based on CT

PURPOSE: To evaluate changes of pancreatic size with aging in control subjects and in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two groups of non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients were examined; one had been treated with an oral hypoglycemic agent(n=59), and the other with insulin(n=56). The CT findings of 175 patients without clinical evidence of pancreatic disease were included as a normal control. RESULTS: In control subjects, pancreatic size and age correlated. The pancreas was smaller in non-insulin-dependent diabetics than incontrol subjects and smaller in insulin- treated non-insulin-dependent diabetics than in non-insulin treated patients. CONCLUSION: The pancreas was smaller in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients than in control subjects within the same age range.

Can Anterior Junction Line be Used to Distinguish Right Middle from Right Upper Lobe on CT Scan?

PURPOSE: To evalvate the usefulness on a CT chest scan, of the anterior junction line as an anatomical landmark to distinguish the right middle and the right upper lobe MATERIALS AND METHODS: We found that the anterior junction line has a constant anatomical relationship with the right upper and middle lobe, and with this in mind, analysed connvcntional CT films of 86 patients with normal lung (group A) and 30 with architectural distortion (group B). On a series of slices, we compared the location of slice 1 with that of slice 2 (slice 1: the slice which includes the lowest portion of the anterior junction line, slice 2: the initial slice, in which the right middle lobe occupies the whole of the lung anterior to the right major fissure). RESULTS: In group A (n=86), the right upper lobe, as seen in the anteromedial zone of slice 1, was present in 83 cases (96.5%). The right upper lobe on slice 1 was absent in two cases (2.3%) in which a minor fissure was almost completely abent. In group B (n=30), the right upper lobe on slice 1 was absent in 19 cases (63.3%). CONCLUSION: We suggest that on a CT chest scan, the anterior junction line can be used as an anatomical landmark in the differentiation of the right middle from the right upper lobe, and as an indicator of the presence of architectural distortion.