An autopsy case of autoimmune pancreatitis.
BACKGROUND
Autoimmune pancreatitis is an increasingly recognized type of chronic pancreatitis, but little is known about the long-term outcome of the disease.


METHODS
We report an autopsy case of autoimmune pancreatitis. The patient was an 81-year-old Japanese male. He was referred to our department with jaundice in February 1996. ERCP images revealed a severe stricture of the lower part of the common bile duct and irregular narrowing of the main pancreatic duct. A diagnosis of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma was made and endoscopic biliary drainage was performed. A stricture of the common bile duct and narrowing of the pancreatic duct had improved on ERCP images when a follow-up examination was performed in November 1998. He was followed up for chronic pancreatitis. The serum IgG and IgG4 levels were increased on serological examination. He died of interstitial pneumonia and congestive heart failure in May 2003. At the autopsy examination, fibrosis was found in the periductal, interlobular and intralobular parts of the pancreas. Focal atrophy of the acinar cells was also identified. There was little infiltration of inflammatory cells into the parenchyma or the stroma of the pancreas. These pathological findings were similar to those of 'conventional' chronic pancreatitis.


CONCLUSIONS
We present an autopsy case of autoimmune pancreatitis which is a rare finding.
Kitano
Yohei
Y
Second Department of Medicine, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Japan. kitano@asahikawa-med.ac.jp
Matsumoto
Kakuya
K
Chisaka
Kenji
K
Imazawa
Masako
M
Takahashi
Kenji
K
Nakade
Yukiomi
Y
Okada
Mituyoshi
M
Aso
Kazunobu
K
Yokoyama
Kazunori
K
Yamamoto
Masahiro
M
Yoshie
Masumi
M
Ogawa
Katsuhiro
K
Haneda
Masakazu
M
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005355:Fibrosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010179:Pancreas / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D050500:Pancreatitis, Chronic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed