The cornerstone of diagnosis of CP is evidence of structural damage of pancreas esp if with impaired pancreatic function. First line of diagnostic investigation is CT mutliphase, MRCP or EUS. EUS with standard criteria has become more applicable nowadays, however it could be operator dependant.

Hi,

In complement to the answer above, you can use the following link (https://pancreasfoundation.org/patient-information/chronic-pancreatitis/chronic-pancreatitis-testing-and-diagnosis/) to get more informations about chronic pancreatitis diagnosis.

Good luck!

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has been deemed the gold standard imaging procedure for diagnosing chronic pancreatitis

The are not a cornerstone, because you need to use several techniques in order to achieve a true diagnosis. It is not an easy way to achieve

The best option would be to get a biopsy of the pancreas for pathological study but this is not easy and sometimes can be dangerous

Hope this articles will help.

1- BABAK ETEMAD, and DAVID C. WHITCOMB .Chronic Pancreatitis: Diagnosis, Classification,and New Genetic Developments. GASTROEN-TEROLOGY 2001;120:682–707.

2- Massimo Raimondo, Michael B Wallace.Diagnosis of Early Chronic Pancreatitis by Endoscopic Ultrasound. JOP. J Pancreas (Online) 2004; 5(1):1-7.

3- DARWIN L. CONWELL and BECHIEN U. WU .Chronic Pancreatitis: Making the Diagnosis CLINICAL GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY 2012;10:1088–1095.

4- J. IGLESIAS-GARCÍA .New steps of elastography for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. Rev esp enfeRm dig (Madrid) Vol. 108, N.º 8, pp. 447-449, 2016.

5- C Forsmark. The diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. GASTROINTESTINAL ENDOSCOPY; VOLUME 52, NO. 2, 2000,293-298.

All these procedures are useful for arriving to this diagnosis

All tne image methods can find estructural damage of the pancreas however the cornestone of the diagnosis is the evaluation of pancretic exocrine function that may diagnnose chronic pancreatitis even before estructural damage be found by image methods

Combination of imaging such as MRI, EUS or CT with evidence of exocrine or endcrine dysfunction, are complementary measures to make the diagnosis.

The best option would be a pancreatic biopsy, but it may be dangerous and only through EUS technique

Pancreatic biopsy may lead to complications as well and generally will not change the management.

An elastography of the pancreas using USE is a good technique for this