Objective To investigate the postoperative biochemical changes and the strategy of steroid treatment for autoimmune pancreatitis （AIP）. Methods Six patients with AIP from January 2007 to October 2011 in this hospital were included in this study. Four patients received pancreaticoduodenectomy or distal pancreatectomy for being preoperatively misdiagnosed as malignant tumors. Two patients avoided the unnecessary resection and received the internal drainage for obstructive jaundice and postoperative steroid medication because of a confirmation of AIP by intraoperative frozen biopsy. All the patients underwent routine examinations， including liver function， CA19-9 level， and imaging data. Measurement of serum IgG or IgG4 was performed for fewer patients after operation. Results CA19-9 levels were normal or slightly elevated in six AIP patients. For five patients with AIP in the head of pancreas， preoperative serum γ-GT levels were elevated. For these patients， whether pancreaticoduodenectomy or the internal drainage were performed， TB/DB levels were transiently elevated on day 1 or 4 after operation but dropped to below preoperative levelsor normal levels on day 7 after operation， and serum γ-GT levels among them presented a downward. Serum γ-globulin levels exhibited a downward trend among four AIP patients after resection， while a upward trend was found in another two AIP patients receiving internal drainage. From the limited data， elevated serum level of IgG in the AIP patients were found. As to IgG4， the only case was tested on month 7 after operation， the serum IgG4 level was elevated. CT showed that the swollen status of pancreas obviously reduced on month 3 after operation as compared with before operation.Conclusions Postoperative steroid therapy of AIP should be based on the serum γ-globulin level and operation method. CT or MRI imaging is used to evaluate the response to steroid treatment for the AIP patients.
ObjectiveTo learn the distribution pattern and characteristics of autoimmune pancreatitis research literature, and its worldwide research trend. MethodsPublished data between September 22, 2004 and September 21, 2014 were searched by using the keyword autoimmune pancreatitis in the database of Pubmed. Publication year, journals, authors and research topics were bibliometrically analyzed. The analysis software Bibliographic Item Co-occurrence Matrix Builder was used for cluster analysis on high-frequency keywords. ResultsA total of 1 518 articles on autoimmune pancreatitis were acquired. The amount of published literature rose rapidly in the past 10 years, reaching its peak in the year of 2012. Most of the articles were published by several leading authors in the leading journals. There were 26 keywords with a frequency of more than 30 times, and 4 categories were classified through cluster analysis of these keywords. They were pathology and immunology, imaging, diagnosis and treatment. ConclusionsAttention on autoimmune pancreatitis has been increasing in the recent 10 years. Japanese researchers have been taking the lead. Current research focus is the diagnosis of autoimmune pancreatitis.