AUTOIMMUNE CHRONIC-PANCREATITIS SIMULATING PANCREATIC LYMPHOMA

A 51-yr-old man, who presented,vith diabetes mellitus, abdominal pain, inguinal lymphadenopathy, and diffuse enlargement of the whole pancre as on ultrasonography, was at first thought to have pancreatic lymphom a. Chemotherapy including steroid was carried out successfully, althou gh the definitive diagnosis of lymphoma was not made. However, on foll ow-up, we realized that both laboratory findings, such as hyperglobuli nemia and autoantibody-positive results, and radiographic features in this case were very similar to those of a case of autoimmune pancreati tis recently reported by Yoshida et al. (Dig Dis Sci 1995;40:1561-8). When the disease recurred, therefore, treatment with steroid alone was performed with an excellent result. We report a case of autoimmune pa ncreatitis simulating primary pancreatic lymphoma.