[Acute pancreatitis: a clinically based classification].

Acute pancreatitis is a protean disease characterized by wide clinical variation and many pathological alterations. This variability in presentation and clinical course has plagued the study and management of the disease. The lack of accepted definitions for acute pancreatitis and its complications has led to difficulties in devising a clinical classification system useful for case management. An attempt in this direction was made by a diverse group of 40 international authorities from six medical disciplines and 15 countries, joining a Symposium in Atlanta, Ga, in September 1992. From this meeting resulted a clinically based classification system for acute pancreatitis valuable to practicing clinicians and to specialists seeking to compare inter institutional data.