Pitfalls of diagnosing autoimmune pancreatitis

The diagnosis of the rare disease autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is demonstrated in the case of a patient who underwent a series of examinations that were unable to unequivocally prove the diagnosis of benignity. The disease as a form of chronic pancreatitis, and the most important and first objective of the examination is to exclude malignant disease of the pancreas and biliary tract. While imaging led to suspicion of malignancy, repeated histological examinations did not confirm it. After we were able to exclude suspected carcinoma according to the available diagnostic criteria, AIP was confirmed, and a diagnosis of type I was made, which belongs to the group of diseases characterized by high levels of immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) in the blood serum. Successful treatment with glucocorticoids was initiated with induction of disease remission. However, AIP shows frequent relapses and this should also be borne in mind during treatment. Our case report also describes such a case.