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The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a gland. The pancreas is a mixed or heterocrine gland, i.e., it has both an endocrine and a digestive exocrine function. [2] 99% of the pancreas is exocrine and 1% is endocrine.
There are about 1 million islets distributed throughout the pancreas of a healthy adult human. While islets vary in size, the average diameter is about 0.2 mm. [5]:928 Each islet is separated from the surrounding pancreatic tissue by a thin, fibrous, connective tissue capsule which is continuous with the fibrous connective tissue that is interwoven throughout the rest of the pancreas.
The pancreatic duct is generally regarded as abnormally enlarged if being over 3 mm in the head and 2 mm in the body or tail on CT scan. [9] Pancreatic duct or parts of pancreatic duct can be demonstrated on ultrasound in 75 to 85% of people. [10] Pancreatic ductal carcinoma is a common form of pancreatic cancer.
The pancreas arises as two separate bodies, the dorsal pancreas and the ventral pancreas. The dorsal pancreas appears first, at around day 26, opposite the developing hepatic duct, and grows into the dorsal mesentery. The ventral pancreas develops at the junction of the hepatic duct and the rest of the foregut.
The pancreas produces and releases important digestive enzymes in the pancreatic juice that it delivers to the duodenum. [24] The pancreas lies below and at the back of the stomach. It connects to the duodenum via the pancreatic duct which it joins near to the bile duct's connection where both the bile and pancreatic juice can act on the chyme ...
One of these the lesser sac is located behind the stomach and joins into the greater sac via the foramen of Winslow. [1] Some of the organs are attached to the walls of the abdomen via folds of peritoneum and ligaments, such as the liver and others use broad areas of the peritoneum, such as the pancreas.
The pancreatic branches or pancreatic arteries are numerous small vessels derived from the splenic artery as it runs behind the upper border of the pancreas, supplying its body and tail.
Beta cells (β-cells) are specialized endocrine cells located within the pancreatic islets of Langerhans responsible for the production and release of insulin and amylin. [1] Constituting ~50–70% of cells in human islets, beta cells play a vital role in maintaining blood glucose levels. [ 2 ]