Diagnosis and treatment of chronic pancreatitis [Diagnostik und therapie der chronischen pankreatitis]

Chronic pancreatitis is defined as a recurrent inflammation of the pancreas that leads to loss of exocrine and endocrine pancreatic function. Its most common cause is alcohol abuse. Hereditary pancreatitis is a form of pancreatitis that mostly has an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance and is characterised by a phenotypic penetrance of up to 80%. Patients with hereditary pancreatitis have a markedly elevated lifetime risk of developing pancreatic cancer. As there is still no causal treatment, therapy focuses on pain control and replacement therapy for endocrine and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. In 30-60% of patients disease-associated complications such as persistent pain, strictures of the common bile duct or pancreatic duct stones develop, which may require either interventional or surgical treatment. © Springer Medizin Verlag 2007.