Paul G. Lankisch Book order

An overview of acute and chronic pancreatitis. The etiology, pathophysiology and clinical features of these diseases are included as well as complications, treatment, strategies and prognostic factors. Two chapters about congenital abnormalities and hereditary pancreatic diseases complete the book.

In the past several years much progress has been made in understanding the basic mechanisms of pancreatic physiology and the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of pancreatic disease. A symposium took place in Munich on 18-19 September 1998 that aimed at summarizing current knowledge of the exocrine pancreas and giving di­ rection to future research. It targeted all practitioners and scientists working in the field of exocrine pancreatic disease. The symposium was also designed to stimulate young persons embarking on a career in this area. It was an exciting meeting for all of us. We wish to extend our thanks to all participants for their prompt submission of manuscripts and to Springer­ Verlag for speedy publication, providing us with an up-to-date volume on pancreatic research. We would also like to thank G. Beyendorff-Hajda and W. Glockner, as well as D. Kriiger, representatives of Knoll Deutschland GmbH, for their organiza­ tional assistance and Knoll itself for its generous sponsorship, which enabled colleagues from other countries to participate and made publication of the symposium possible.

This pancreatits primer presents in a concise and easy to understand manner the most important aspects of acute and chronic pancreatits. Diagrams are explained with the help of short texts, thus giving the busy practitioner an up-to-date overview on the course of pancreatitis and the necessary steps for diagnosis and therapy.