Chronic relapsing pancreatitis with pseudocyst erosion into the portal vein and disseminated fat necrosis.

A 63-year-old man with the triad of chronic relapsing pancreatitis, disseminated fat necrosis with subcutaneous nodular panniculitis, and polyarthritis was found to have a pseudocyst which had eroded into the portal vein. These lesions were associated with markedly elevated serum pancreatic enzymes. Although recent immunological studies by others suggest a possible contribution of immune-mediated tissue injury, clinical and pathological evidence in the present case including direct tissue immunofluorescent findings do not support an immune pathogenesis of this association. The present study further substantiates the concept of physiochemical tissue injury by circulating pancreatic enzymes as the primary pathogenetic mechanism.