in pancreatic cancer) slightly increases the risk of cholangitis, but stents of this type are often needed to keep the bile duct patent under outside pressure. Pathogenesis
Bile is produced by the liver, and serves to eliminate cholesterol and bilirubin from the body, as well as emulsifying of fats to make them more soluble in water and aid in their digestion. Bile is formed in the liver by hepatocytes (liver cells) and excreted into the common hepatic duct. Part of the bile is stored in the gall bladder because of back pressure (exerted by the sphincter of Oddi), and may be released at the time of digestion. The gallbladder also concentrates the bile by absorbing water and dissolved salts from it. All bile reaches the duodenum (first part of the small intestine) through the common bile duct and the ampulla of Vater. The sphincter of Oddi, located at the junction of the ampulla of Vater and the duodenum, is a circular muscle that controls the release of both bile and pancreatic secretions into the digestive tract.The biliary tree is normally relatively free of bacteria because of certain protective mechanisms. The sphincter of Oddi acts as a mechanical barrier. The biliary system normally has low pressure (8 to 12 cmH2O) and allows bile to flow freely through. The continuous forward flow of the bile in the duct flushes bacteria, if present, into the duodenum, and does not allow the establishment of an infection.
Leontiasis ossea, also known as leontiasis, lion face or lion face syndrome, is a rare medical condition, characterized by an overgrowth of the facial and cranial bones. It is not a disease in itself, but a symptom of other diseases, including Pagets disease, fibrous dysplasia, hyperparathyroidism and renal osteodystrophy.The common form is that in which one or other maxilla is affected, its size progressively increasing, and thus encroaching on the cavities of the orbit, the mouth, the nose and its accessory sinuses. Exophthalmos gradually develops, going on later to a complete loss of sight due to compression of the optic nerve by the overgrowth of bone. There may also be interference with the nasal respiration and with the taking of food. In the somewhat less common form of this rare disease the overgrowth of bone affects all the cranial bones as well as those of the face, the senses being lost one by one and death finally resulting from cerebral pressure. There is no treatment other than exposing the overgrown bone, and chipping away pieces, or excising entirely where possible. Great Sphinx
Surgeon Hutan Ashrafian from Imperial College London has analysed the Great Sphinx to identify that it may have represented an individual suffering from prognathism which may have been a reflection of a disease suffered by the sculptures human inspiration. Furthermore, as the Sphinx represented a lion, the same person may have suffered from leontiasis ossea. See also
Lionitis

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Leontiasis Ossea".