Tags: Disease.
Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is the inability to properly digest food due to a lack of digestive enzymes made by the pancreas. This disease is found frequently in dogs. EPI is also found in humans afflicted with cystic fibrosis and Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome. EPI is caused by a progressive loss of the pancreatic cells that make digestive enzymes. In dogs the most common cause is by pancreatic acinar atrophy.