Current Perceptions of Chronic Pancreatitis

Chronic pancreatitis is a group of diseases (variants of chronic pancreatitis) characterized by different etiological factors, presence of focal necroses in the pancreas on the background of segmental fibrosis and development of different degrees of pronounced functional insufficiency. Progression of chronic pancreatitis leads to the appearance and development of glandular tissue atrophy, fibrosis and replacement of cellular elements of pancreatic parenchyma by connective tissue. In the publications of recent years there are considerations of some researchers about the stages of course (progression) of chronic pancreatitis. One of them considers the initial period of the disease, the stage of external secretory (exocrine) insufficiency of the pancreas and a complicated variant of the course of chronic pancreatitis, tumors of this organ. However, apparently, other variants of the course of chronic pancreatitis are also possible.