[Nuclear insulin assay after a starch and maltose load in chronic diseases of the pancreas: a preliminary note (author's transl)]. 
In a group of 48 patients with chronic pancreatitis the authors investigated the variations of blood insulin content after stimulation with starch and maltose, and compared these changes with the correspondind glycemia values.  The two curves, practically matching in normal subjects, tend to diverge considerably in patients with chronic pancreatitis.  According to the authors, since the assessment of exocrine pancreas function by common laboratory methods is none too satisfactory, this method may yield better appreciation of extant damage to the pancreas.