Pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer represent two major diseases of the exocrine pancreas. Pancreatitis exhibits both acute and chronic manifestations. The commonest causes of acute pancreatitis are gallstones and alcohol abuse; the latter is also the predominant cause of chronic pancreatitis. Recent evidence indicates that endotoxinemia, which occurs in alcoholics due to increased gut permeabil...

Peripancreatic pseudoaneurysm and splenic infarction are rare but life-threatening complications of chronic pancreatitis. The incidence of pseudoaneurysm in patients who undergo angiography for pancreatitis is about 10%. Clinically, pseudoaneurysm is hard to discover until rupture occurs. The authors have recently experienced a case of intact pseudoaneurysm and splenic infarction in chronic alc...

CONTEXT Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) are a recently classified pancreatic neoplasm with an increasing incidence. IPMN is often misdiagnosed as chronic pancreatitis because of symptoms of relapsing abdominal pain, pancreatitis, and steatorrhea and imaging findings of a dilated pancreatic duct of cystic lesions that are frequently confused with pseudocysts. Early recognition o...

Objectives The concept of early chronic pancreatitis was initially described in the 2009 Japanese diagnostic criteria for chronic pancreatitis. However, the clinical features of non-alcoholic early chronic pancreatitis have not been defined. The aim of this study is to elucidate the clinical features of non-alcoholic early chronic pancreatitis. Methods Thirteen patients, two men and 11 women we...

Pancreatitis is a disease which is caused by inflammation of the pancreas. Pancreas is a large gland that is damaged when digestive enzymes are become activated before releasing into small intestine and these digestive enzymes attack the pancreas. There are two main types of pancreatitis, one is acute pancreatitis and the other is chronic pancreatitis. The pain sometimes goes into the back. Fev...

TwO DISTINCT features characterize the pathological entity of chronic pancreatitis, acinar destruction and fibrous tissue formation, the final stage of which is a destroyed and densely sclerotic pancreas. Some degree of dilatation and stricture of the pancreatic ducts is often present, in some cases associated with pancreatic calculi. Sarles and his colleagues (Sarles, Muratore & Sarles, 1961; ...

Classification There have been many different classification methods employed for pancreatitis, which can be confusing if reading material from different authors. In contrast in human medicine the classification has been significantly simplified over recent years, with the main classification being as either acute or chronic disease. The main difference between the two is the potential ‘reversi...

lar complications including thromboses of the portal venous system and the formation of a pseudoaneurysm. Pseudoaneurysms occur in approximately 3.5-10.0% of patients with pancreatitis (1). The arteries most commonly affected by pseudoaneurysms are (in decreasing percent occurrence), the splenic (40%), gastroduodenal (30%), pancreaticoduodenal (20%), gastric (5%), hepatic (2%), and others (supe...

CONTEXT Incomplete pancreas divisum is a pancreatic anomaly that results in an inadequate communication between the ventral and dorsal pancreatic ducts. Although the relationship between complete pancreas divisum and pancreatitis has been contentious, clinical implications of incomplete pancreas divisum have not been noted. OBJECTIVE This study was done to investigate the clinical significanc...

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) has become the method of choice for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis in clinical practice. However, the criteria allowing the specific diagnosis of the disease, mainly at non-advanced stages, are still under debate. Analysis of tissue stiffness by quantitative EUS-elastography may provide additional relevant information in this set...