| Theme |
:New Criteria of Chronic Pancreatitis |
| Title |
Chronic Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Cancer |
| Author |
Shinichi Egawa |
First Department of Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine |
| Author |
Seiki Matsuno |
First Department of Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine |
| [ Summary ] |
The new diagnostic criteria for chronic pancreatitis (CP) set by the Japan Pancreas Society have made it easier to diagnose definite CP. But it still remains difficult to differentially diagnose pancreatic cancer from CP, which shows diffuse narrowing of the pancreatic duct or some forms of vascularized tumors. Autoimmune pancreatitis is also seen with the development of diffuse tumors, bile duct stenosis and vascular occlusion sirnilar to cancer. On the other hand, small pancreatic cancers are frequently vascularized and the frozen section of pancreatic cancer tissue may sometimes lead in false negative results making it difficult to choose the correct procedure for the operation. Mucin producing pancreatic tumor causes relapsing pancreatitis which results in irregular dilatation of the pancreatic ducts and branches with filling defects which look like protein plugs. Although preoperative or intraoperative biopsy of the pancreas may be helpful in avoiding unnecessary operations, function preserving resection should be performed to treat these borderline cases. |