[Endoscopic retrograde pancreatography (ERP) in acute alcoholic and biliary pancreatitis].

An analysis of the ERP findings in 31 patients with acute pancreatitis enable us to define the terminology of the pancreatogram in these diseases. Irregularities of the ducts indicate previous damage to the organ. A frequent phenomenon is thinning of lateral branches, which can be explained by compression due to oedema. Early parenchymal staining indicates abnormal permeability of the duct epithelium. Cavities are an expression of acute pseudo-cysts. A sign characteristic of alcoholic pancreatitis is the presence of contrast defects due to protein plugs and due to increased viscosity of pancreatic secretions. These observations confirm the theory that protein precipitates due to abnormal secretions play an important role in acute pancreatitis.