Clinical validation of the international consensus diagnostic criteria and algorithms for autoimmune pancreatitis: Combined IAP and KPBA meeting 2013 report

There have been great developments in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) in the last decade. Most significantly, the international consensus diagnostic criteria (ICDC) proposed in 2011 were the first attempt to provide unified diagnostic criteria incorporating most features of the previously existing national criteria. However, the ICDC have not yet been prospectively validated using evidence-based studies since their introduction. An international symposium on the diagnosis of AIP was held in Seoul, South Korea on September 6, 2013, in cooperation with the International Association of Pancreatology and the Korean Pancreatobiliary Association meeting. In contrast to other symposia in the past, which had primarily focused on the diagnostic criteria themselves, expert panels in this symposium discussed how the diagnostic criteria and algorithms had been embraced in clinical settings to diagnose AIP in each country and conducted a comprehensive evaluation of these criteria and algorithms. It was acknowledged that there was a room for improvement in the ICDC and their algorithms and that further modifications might be required in the future. Prospective clinical validation in larger series is needed for confirmation.