Clinical Features
The presentation of AIP may be classified into the acute and postacute phase. The most common acute clinical presentation of AIP is with obstructive jaundice but it can mimic almost any known pancreatic disease in its presentation.[18,39,40] It can present as obstructive jaundice and pancreatic mass (pancreatic cancer), abdominal pain and enzyme elevation (acute pancreatitis) and less commonly with pancreatic steatorrhea (chronic pancreatitis), to name a few. In the postacute phase, it can present with steatorrhea and atrophy of the pancreas or by involvement of other organs (e.g., bile ducts, salivary glands, kidneys, retroperitoneum and lymph nodes). AIP can present before, during or after the various other organ involvement, described previously. There seems to be an association with diabetes mellitus/glucose intolerance in 50-70% of the cases in the course of the disease.[41,42] Interestingly, in a proportion of patients, the diabetes seems to improve with corticosteroid treatment.[43,44] Currently, long-term follow-up data are lacking, but there is no compelling evidence to suggest that AIP increases the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2009;3(2):197-204. © 2009 Expert Reviews, Ltd.
Cite this: Autoimmune Pancreatitis: An Update - Medscape - Apr 01, 2009.
Comments