| [ Summary ] |
The new version of Diagnostic Criteria for Chronic Pancreatitis still has a number of problems including the indistinct definition of chronic pancreatitis, lack of etiological viewpoints, and absence of differential diagnosis for distinguishing pancreatitis from pancreatic cancer. The author proposes that alcohol-induced pancreatic dysfunction or pancreatopathy be separated from other types of "chronic pancreatitis"(biliary, hereditary, idiopathic, autoimmune, etc.) as a clinical entity encompassing a variety of alcohol-related conditions ranging from acute pancreatitis to the terminal state of pancreatic insufficiency. |