Long-term outcomes of autoimmune pancreatitis

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) has been considered a favorable-prognosis disease; however, currently, there is limited information on natural course of AIP during long-term follow-up. Recently published studies regarding the long-term outcomes of AIP has demonstrated the developments of pancreatic stone formation, exocrine insufficiency, and endocrine insufficiency are observed in 5%-41%, 34%-82%, and 38%-57% of patients having the disease. Furthermore, the incidence rate of developing pancreatic cancer ranges from 0% to 4.8% during the long-term follow-up. The event of death from AIP-related complications other than accompanying cancer is likely to be rare. During follow-up of AIP patients, careful surveillance for not only relapse of the disease but also development of complications at regular intervals is needed.