AUTOIMMUNE PANCREATITIS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

Autoimmune pancreatitis in foreign countries is described. Histopathological findings of autoimmune pancreatitis in Japan is marked lymphoplasmacytic infiltration with fibrosis in the pancreas (lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing pancreatitis). However, autoimmune pancreatitis with neutrophilic infiltration in the epithelium of the pancreatic duct was reported by American and Italian pathologists. These patients showed different clinicopathological features from autoimmune pancreatitis defined in Japan as follows: no prediction for elderly males, frequent association with inflammatory bowel disease, and weaker association with other sclerosing diseases. In 2006, the Japanese clinical diagnostic criteria of autoimmune pancreatitis were revised, and diagnostic criteria of autoimmune pancreatitis were proposed in Korea and USA. The Korean and American criteria, in addition to the Japanese criteria, include the response to steroid therapy and the presence of extrapancreatic lesions. It is necessary to reach an international consensus on autoimmune pancreatitis.