1 Terminology of Acute Pancreatitis: Clinical Application.- State of Art.- Opinion from Spain.- Opinion from Germany.- Opinion from the United States.- Opinion from Italy.- 2 Sterile Necrosis: Surgical Indications?.- State of Art.- Opinion from Italy.- Opinion from the United Kingdom.- 3 Idiopathic Recurrent Pancreatitis.- State of Art.- Opinion from the United States.- Opinion from the United Kingdom.- Opinion from Italy.- Endoscopist's Point of View.- 4 Do Chronic Pancreatitis Patients All Have the Same Disease?.- State of Art.- Opinion from Greece.- Opinion from Italy.- Opinion from Portugal.- 5 Controversies in Chronic Pancreatitis Treatment.- State of Art.- Pain Treatment.- Medical Treatment.- What Kind of Pancreatic Extract to Use?.- Endoscopic Treatment.- Resective Surgical Treatment.- Derivative Surgical Treatment.- 6 Molecular Biology of Pancreatic Cancer.- The Role of Islets in Experimental Pancreatic Cancer.- Genetic Alterations.- Genetic Alterations in Different Countries.- Growth Factors.- Receptors and Their Modulation.- Enzymology.- Tumor-Associated Antigen: Clinical Practice and Future.- Ampullary Cancers: Correlation of Morphology, Stage, and Genetic Abnormalities.- 7 Antibiotics and Pancreas.- Microbiology and Sources of Pancreatic Pathogens in Acute Pancreatitis.- Pharmacokinetics of Antibiotics in the Pancreas.- Overview of Clinical Experiences.- 8 Treatment of Pancreatic Fistulas.- State of Art.- Pancreatic Rest.- Medical Treatment: How and How Long?.- Indications for Surgery and Surgical Technique.- 9 Cystic Tumors of the Pancreas.- Possibilities of Radiologic Characterization.- Pathology.- Surgical Treatment.- 10 Heresies and Orthodoxies.- Somatostatin in Pancreatic Surgery.- Gabexate Mesilate and Acute Pancreatitis.- Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography in Acute Pancreatitis.- Pathomorphology of Acute Pancreatitis.- Alcohol and Pancreas.- Nutrition and the Pancreas.- Therapeutic Strategies in Experimental Acute Pancreatitis.- Chronic Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Cancer: Are They Related?.

This volume is a compendium of the lectures, presentations, and workshops of the International Congress entitled "Facing the Pancreatic Dilemma" and of the 17th Meeting of the Italian Association for the Study of the Pancreas, held in Verona on 16 -19 June 1993. Pancreatology is still a relatively young science. Many pathophysiological aspects of pancreatic disease are as yet obscure, and a fair number of the etio pathogenetic mechanisms adduced are no more than hypothetical. We have therefore chosen to compare and contrast in a single volume the various hypo theses and interpretations put forward by leading experts in the field. In view of the swift evolution of this branch of medical science, it is sound policy to bear in mind that yesterday's heresies have become today's orthodoxy, and that todays's heresies may well turn out to be accepted orthodoxy in a not too distant future. The various "pancreatic dilemmas" are addressed systematically in these pages, and we believe that the book will prove an invaluable tool for the special ist and for any physician dealing with pancreatic disease. The book also represents a tribute by the Verona School of Pancreatology to the memory of Prof. L. A. Scuro, founder of the School and one of the outstanding Italian pioneers of pancreatology.