Chronic pancreatitis is a condition in which there is irreversible damage to the pancreas, as opposed to the reversible changes that can be seen in acute pancreatitis. It is defined based on the histological findings of chronic inflammation, fibrosis, and progressive atrophy of the exocrine and endocrine pancreas, and it is this loss of functioning tissue that produces the disease’s three main problems: pain, maldigestion and diabetes.
Where to start
- Causes and Risk Factors — the main causes of chronic pancreatitis, and the gene variants behind many idiopathic cases.
- Pathophysiology — how activated pancreatic stellate cells and the necrosis-fibrosis sequence replace the parenchyma with fibrotic tissue.
- Clinical Features — the pain, steatorrhea, weight loss, diabetes and complications that the disease produces.
- Autoimmune Pancreatitis — the two recognised types, their histology and their dramatic response to steroids.
- Diagnosis — the imaging findings and the pancreas function tests, including the secretin stimulation test.
- Treatment — pain control, pancreatic enzyme replacement, diabetes management and treatment of structural complications.