Sudden death due to infantile pancreatitis.
The autopsy of a 10-month-old infant girl who died suddenly after a 2-day illness revealed acute pancreatitis and DIC. While the definitive etiology remains unknown, retention of pancreatic juice accompanying proliferation of papillary epithelium within the pancreatic duct adjacent to the ampulla Vater was suggested. Acute interstitial pancreatitis was assumed to have resulted from suppurative inflammation of the pancreatic duct. DIC was probably caused by the release of pancreatic enzymes.