Figure 2.

Illustration of birth defects in the pancreas. (A) In a healthy pancreas, the ducts in the dorsal and ventral pancreas fuse to form a single duct, and the β-cells in the islet of Langerhans synthesize and secret insulin. (B) Agenesis of the pancreas with partially developed pancreas. (C) Failure in the fusion between dorsal and ventral ducts leads to pancreas divisum. (D) Formation of the annular pancreas. Instead of rotating with the gut tube and fusing with the dorsal pancreas, the ventral pancreas encircles the duodenum. (E) Insulin secretion is decreased due to β-cell loss in diabetes. Factors known to contribute to each birth defect are labeled in each panel.