Fat necrosis
Appearance
Fat necrosis |
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Fat necrosis is a form of necrosis characterized by the action upon fat by digestive enzymes.[1]
In fat necrosis the enzyme lipase releases fatty acids from triglycerides. The fatty acids then complex with calcium to form soaps. These soaps appear as white chalky deposits.[2]
It is usually associated with trauma of the pancreas or acute pancreatitis.[2][3]
It can also occur in the breast,[4] the salivary glands [1] and neonates after a traumatic delivery.
See also
References
- ^ "Cell Injury".
- ^ a b Kumar, Vinay; Abbas, Abul K.; Fausto, Nelson; & Mitchell, Richard N. (2007). Robbins Basic Pathology (8th ed.). Saunders Elsevier. pp. 10-11 ISBN 978-1-4160-2973-1
- ^ "fat necrosis" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
- ^ Lövey K, Fodor J, Major T, et al. (November 2007). "Fat necrosis after partial-breast irradiation with brachytherapy or electron irradiation versus standard whole-breast radiotherapy--4-year results of a randomized trial". Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 69 (3): 724–31. doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2007.03.055. PMID 17524571.
External links