A diagnostic approach to inflammatory disease of the pancreas by means of endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography.

Role of ERCP in the diagnosis of inflammatory lesions of the pancreas was evaluated and following conclusions were obtained. 1) Following criteria were considered to be practical for clinical diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis by ERCP; a) More than moderate irregularity or rigidity of margin, dilatation, or irregularity in caliber of PDS, whether extensive or localized, or b) Cyst formation or c) Obstruction of PDS. These criteria permit to diagnose 100% of pancreatolithiasis, 82% of chronic pancreatitis without pancreatolithiasis and 64% of histologically diagnosed chronic pancreatitis but about 13% of "false positive results" must be taken into consideration. 2) ERCP plays an important role in detecting and locating localized or scattered lesions without noticable abnormalities in P-S test. It is also useful in deciding an indication for surgical intervention. However, it has limitations in detecting minimal to moderate pancreatitis. Some of these cases are often picked up by P-S test. 3) Combined approach with ERCP and P-S test is required for diagnosis of inflammatory lesions of the pancreas and either one is incomplete by itself.