Clinical and Imaging Features of Autoimmune Pancreatitis With Focal Pancreatic Swelling Or Mass Formation: Comparison With So-Called Tumor-Forming Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Carcinoma

Abstract

Focal AIP is associated with clinical and radiologic features that are different from those of alcohol-induced TFP. In TFP there are two causative factors, namely, AIP and alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis. Differential diagnosis of focal AIP from Pca seems to be possible in many cases by evaluating imaging findings such as dynamic CT and ERCP, although focal AIP sometimes shows clinical and radiologic features similar to those of Pca.

Amendment of the Japanese Consensus Guidelines for Autoimmune Pancreatitis, 2013 II. Extrapancreatic lesions, differential diagnosis

“…ERCP findings that differentiate AIP from pancreatic cancer include a longer stenosis in the MPD (more than 3 cm), the presence of branches in the stenosed MPD region, and, after a stenosis of less than 4 mm, a non-dilated MPD [100,101]. These findings are not possible to discern in cases with MPD obstruction.…”

Long-Term Follow-Up of Autoimmune Pancreatitis: Characteristics of Chronic Disease and Recurrence

“…2 Previous studies investigated the recurrence of AIP, but they reported lower recurrence rates, ranging from 6 to 23 %. [5][6][7] Though the exact reasons for these discrepancies are unclear, they may be related to the number of patients, the follow-up periods, and the type of corticosteroid therapy may be related.…”

Pancreatic Cancer Associated with Autoimmune Pancreatitis in Remission

“…Because there is no gold standard for the diagnosis of AIP, the differentiation from pancreatic cancer can be difficult (7)(8)(9)(10)(11). On the other hand, few previous reports have described pancreatic cancer associated with AIP (12).…”