Description

Buchler et al developed a classification system for staging patients with chronic pancreatitis. The authors are from the University of Heidelberg, Technical University Munich and Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg.


Patient selection: chronic pancreatitis

 

Clinical and imaging findings:

(1) pain

(2) recurrent attacks of acute pancreatitis

(3) complications of chronic pancreatitis

(4) steatorrhea

(5) diabetes mellitus

(6) CT, MRI, ultrasound, endoscopic ultrasonography, and/ERCP

 

Complications:

(1) bile duct obstruction/stenosis with cholestasis or jaundice

(2) duodenal obstruction/stenosis

(3) vascular obstruction/stenosis involving portal and/or splenic vein

(4) pancreatic pseudocysts

(5) pancreatic fistula

(6) pancreatogenic ascites

(7) other rare complications in adjacent organs (colon stenosis, splenic pseudocyts, etc)

 

Finding

Stage A

Stage B

Stage C

pain and/or acute pancratitis

one or both

NA

NA

complications

absent

present

variable

steatorrhea

absent

absent

variable

insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

absent

absent

variable

 

Stage C may be divided into:

C1: diabetes mellitus (endocrine function impairment)

C2: steatorrhea (exocrine function impairment)

C3: both diabetes and steatorrhea AND/OR complications

 

The system uses the following scheme for reporting:

chronic pancreatitis (), stage,


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