The revised Japanese clinical diagnostic criteria for chronic pancreatitis.
In Japan, we are now using the clinical diagnostic criteria for chronic pancreatitis (CP) that were revised in 2001 to add the findings of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography to the criteria compiled by the Japan Pancreas Society (JPS) in 1995. Because the current criteria are set for diagnosing advanced CP, they are unlikely to improve patients' prognoses. In addition, they seem unsuitable for current clinical practice because exocrine pancreatic function tests, which have become obsolete in Japan, are included in the diagnostic factors. For these reasons, the Research Committee on Intractable Pancreatic Diseases supported by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, the JPS and the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology have revised the criteria. The revised criteria are unique in that they contain an introduction to the concept of early CP. It is a challenge aimed at improvement of the long-term prognosis of CP patients by early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention in this disease. We need to determine and clarify the clinico-pathological outcome of early CP by a prospective long-term follow-up of the patients in this category.
Shimosegawa
Tooru
T
Division of Gastroenterology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8574, Japan. tshimosegawa@int3.med.tohoku.ac.jp
Kataoka
Keisho
K
Kamisawa
Terumi
T
Miyakawa
Hiroyuki
H
Ohara
Hirotaka
H
Ito
Tetsuhide
T
Naruse
Satoru
S
Sata
Naohiro
N
Suda
Koichi
K
Hirota
Morihisa
M
Takeyama
Yoshifumi
Y
Shiratori
Keiko
K
Hatori
Takashi
T
Otsuki
Makoto
M
Atomi
Yutaka
Y
Sugano
Kentaro
K
Tanaka
Masao
M
D049448:Cholangiopancreatography, Magnetic Resonance / Q000379:methods*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D010186:Pancreatic Function Tests / Q000379:methods; D050500:Pancreatitis, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013997:Time Factors