Autoimmune pancreatitis: a surgical dilemma

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is defined as a particular form of pancreatitis that often manifests as obstructive jaundice associated with a pancreatic mass or an obstructive bile duct lesion, and that has an excellent response to corticosteroid treatment. The prevalence of AIP worldwide is unknown, and it is considered as a rare entity. The clinical and radiological presentation of AIP can mimic bilio-pancreatic cancer, presenting difficulties for diagnosis and obliging the surgeon to balance decision-making between the potential risk presented by the misdiagnosis of a deadly disease against the desire to avoid unnecessary major surgery for a disease that responds effectively to corticosteroid treatment. In this review we detail the current and critical points for the diagnosis, classification and treatment for AIP, with a special emphasis on surgical series and the methods to differentiate between this pathology and bilio-pancreatic cancer.