How to diagnose autoimmune pancreatitis by the revised Japanese clinical criteria

When diagnosing autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP), it is most important to differentiate it from neoplastic lesions such as pancreatic or biliary cancers. The revised diagnostic criteria are based on the minimum consensus of AIP in order to avoid misdiagnosing pancreas or biliary cancer as far as possible, but not for screening AIP. Therefore, it is recommended that facile therapeutic diagnosis by steroidal administration should be avoided. These...