Diagnostic criteria for autoimmune chronic pancreatitis

Autoimmune chronic pancreatitis (AIP) is a clinically attractive entity because of its dramatic response to oral steroid therapy. Recently, as awareness of AIP is increasing, more cases are being reported. However, there are still no established worldwide diagnostic criteria for AIP. Since the Japan Pancreas Society (JPS) published diagnostic criteria for autoimmune chronic pancreatitis in the year 2002, increased attention toward this relatively new disease entity has enabled more cases of AIP to be correctly diagnosed. As previously unrecognized or misdiagnosed cases of autoimmune chronic pancreatitis are found, an increasing number of cases that are not in full accordance with the JPS diagnostic criteria are revealed. As a result, some groups have developed and cited their own criteria in the reporting of autoimmune chronic pancreatitis. The absence of consistent, uniform criteria has made comparison of different cases diagnosed under various guidelines difficult. In this review, we discuss and compare the four current sets of diagnostic criteria, focusing on their individual strengths and weaknesses.