Academic Pancreas Centers of Excellence: Guidance from a multidisciplinary chronic pancreatitis working group at PancreasFest.

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a progressive inflammatory disease, which leads to loss of pancreatic function and other disease-related morbidities. A group of academic physicians and scientists developed comprehensive guidance statements regarding the management of CP that include its epidemiology, diagnosis, medical treatment, surgical treatment, and screening. The statements were developed through literature review, deliberation, and consensus opinion. These statements were ultimately used to develop a conceptual framework for the multidisciplinary management of chronic pancreatitis referred to as an academic pancreas center of excellence (APCOE).