Document Detail


Chronic pancreatitis.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17033333     Owner:  NLM     Status:  PubMed-not-MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The pathogenesis of idiopathic chronic pancreatitis remains poorly understood despite the high expectations for ascribing the pancreatic damage in affected patients to genetic defects. Neither mutations in the cationic trypsinogen gene nor mutations of the cystic fibrosis conductance regulator gene account for the chronic pancreatitis noted in most patients with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis. Attempts to find an autoimmune basis for the pancreatitis in these patients have not been very successful. The diagnosis of small duct idiopathic chronic pancreatitis remains a great source of frustration for clinicians. Such patients with negative results of radiographic studies often cannot be diagnosed unless a hormone stimulation test such as a secretin test is performed. Although the porcine biologic form of secretin, which has been used to diagnose chronic pancreatitis, became unavailable because of widespread use in the treatment of children with autism, a synthetic form of porcine secretin has now been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and is available. The true value of endoscopic ultrasonography in diagnosing small duct chronic pancreatitis remains to be fully defined. Endoscopic ultrasonography is becoming the test of choice in detecting radiographic abnormalities in both the parenchyma and ducts of the pancreas. Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided celiac plexus block can be performed relatively easily and very safely. It can provide excellent short-term pain relief in some patients, but reliable predictors of which patients will be successful with this therapy are not yet available. Because long-term follow-up data on the use of endoscopic ultrasonography in this respect are not available, and because the pain of chronic pancreatitis is, indeed, chronic, the role of endoscopic ultrasonography-guided celiac plexus block should be limited to treating those patients with chronic pancreatitis whose pain has not responded to other modalities.
Authors:
Peter Draganov; Phillip P Toskes
Related Documents :
22109983 - Low-flow, low-gradient severe aortic stenosis despite normal ejection fraction is assoc...
6190043 - Foregut mucosal defects: an etiology of hyperamylasemia.
10583263 - Chronic myelogenous leukaemia with p185(bcr/abl) expression: characteristics and clinic...
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Current opinion in gastroenterology     Volume:  18     ISSN:  0267-1379     ISO Abbreviation:  Curr. Opin. Gastroenterol.     Publication Date:  2002 Sep 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2006-10-11     Completed Date:  2007-06-21     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8506887     Medline TA:  Curr Opin Gastroenterol     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  558-62     Citation Subset:  -    
Affiliation:
Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA. dragapv@medicine.ufl.edu
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Genetics and pancreatic disease.
Next Document:  Pancreatic cancer research: challenges, opportunities, and recent developments.