Pancreatitis historical perspective

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Historical Perspective

In 1652, Dutch physician and anatomist, Nicholaes Tulp gave the first clear description of acute pancreatitis. The first systemic analysis of acute pancreatitis was presented by Reginald Huber Fitz in 1889. The father of modern anatomical pathology, Giovanni Battista Morgagni gave the first description of pancreatic pseudocysts.

In 1896, Hans Chiari proposed that the basic mechanism of the disease was autodigestion of pancreas.

During the 20th century, many theories were proposed regarding the benefits and detriments of selecting surgery as the initial approach in treating acute pancreatitis.