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Whereas in the past, the tendency was to view acute and chronic pancreatitis as two separate conditions, currently, the line is not considered as so easily distinguishable. Acute pancreatitis is usually characterized as a discrete symptomatic event followed by a pain-free interval between episodes. As time goes on, patients may begin to experience pain even between episodes with eventual progression to chronic pancreatitis where there is injury to the pancreatic tissue, endocrine and exocrine insufficiency, and other symptoms. For some patients, the pain abates as the tissue damage progresses. There are other people who may develop chronic pancreatitis after only one episode of acute pancreatitis while others may develop chronic pancreatitis without ever having had an episode of acute pancreatitis. One of the theories that try to explain this progression is called the sentinel acute pancreatitis event where the first event or episode causes a pancreatic injury which makes the pancreas vulnerable to other exposures such as alcohol, tobacco, or other factors.

The mechanism that causes some patients to develop acute pancreatitis which then may develop into chronic pancreatitis is not clearly understood. One of the theories that researchers have proposed is that pancreatitis occurs when a person with a predisposition for the condition is exposed to certain toxins, such as alcohol. If the exposure continues and the inflammation is ongoing, certain types of cells are produced that result in fibrosis and chronic pancreatitis. Researchers are involved in ongoing investigations to try and identify the factors that are involved with the development of pancreatitis.

For more information about the development of chronic pancreatitis, please click on the following link: http://www.medifocus.com/abstracts.php?gid=GS007&ID=18092710