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Gastroenterologist Dr. Sanjay Jagannath

Mercy's Dr. Sanjay Jagannath Discusses Identifying Pancreatic Tumors On WBAL-TV11's "Woman's Doctor"

A screening device that can find small tumors in the pancreas is helping patients' chances by giving a much clearer picture of the pancreas than other methods.

Dr. Sanjay Jagannath of The Institute for Digestive Health and Liver Disease at Mercy uses an endoscopic ultrasound to get an image of the pancreas that he said is clearer than a CAT scan or MRI.

"This allows us to do an ultrasound from inside the body as opposed to outside the body, and in addition to that, we can actually direct a needle that will come out from a channel and allow us to take biopsies under ultrasound guidance. It's completely painless, and patients are asleep the whole time," he said.

Deborah Anderson enjoyed good health until last year, when something frightening happened after she went to sleep.

"I didn't wake up. That was my first symptom. I never woke up until I was in an ambulance," she said.

Anderson's blood-sugar level was very low, but she wasn't diabetic, and her dangerous symptoms continued without warning.

"I was dizzy, I would pass out, I would get hallucinations," she said.

Dr. Jagannath performed an endoscopic ultrasound on her, which revealed a small benign tumor.

"The tumor is located in the tail of the pancreas," he said.

Anderson's type of tumor was rare, called an insulinoma. It was less than a quarter of an inch in size.

"The pancreas actually has two different types of cells -- one that makes digestive enzymes and the other one that makes hormones. So, this is actually a tumor of those hormone-producing cells, and essentially, in this case, we're talking about a tumor that produces insulin," Dr. Jagannath said.

Anderson had robotic surgery to remove it and part of her pancreas. She noted she's grateful the endoscopic ultrasound found the small tumor that threatened her life.

"I didn't have any more symptoms. They were gone -- they were all gone. I was amazed how everything just stopped," she said.

To view Dr. Jagannath’s interview on WBAL-TV11’s Woman’s Doctor, click this link: http://www.wbaltv.com/health/29571486/detail.html.

For an indepth interview with Dr. Jagannath on pancreatic cancer, click here: http://www.wbaltv.com/video/29571328/detail.html.