History of the European pancreatic club: the first 40 years 1965-2005. The scientific profile of the European pancreatic club and what stood the test of time.

The invited lectures, the symposia and panels and the printed abstracts of the meetings are the basis for analysis of the development of pancreatic research over the 40 years from 1965 to 2005. 245 invited lectures and 59 symposia, panels and round tables presented and discussed the latest state of the art at the meetings of the European Pancreatic Club (EPC). We analyze in detail the contributions to physiology and biochemistry of the pancreas, the neurohormonal control of pancreatic secretion, cell biology, stimulus-secretion coupling, and cell receptors.

History of the European pancreatic club: the first 40 years 1965-2005. The development of the European pancreatic club as a scientific society.

The European Pancreatic Club (EPC) was founded during a first symposium on December 9 and 10, 1965 in London (President H.T. Howat).

Severe acute pancreatitis: nonsurgical treatment of infected necroses.

Objectives: In acute pancreatitis, infection of necrosis is associated with a substantial mortality of 15% to >50% even if immediate necrosectomy, the recommended standard treatment, is performed, mainly because of the patients' critical systemic and unstable local conditions at the time of manifestation of infection. We investigated whether this dreaded complication can be managed conservatively.

Methods: We evaluated 88 consecutive patients with severe (APACHE II score, > or =11; Ranson score, > or =4) acute necrotizing pancreatitis who received ICU treatment including early antibiotic prophylaxis.

Clinical presentation and personality factors are predictors of the response to treatment in patients with functional dyspepsia; a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study.

The role of psychological factors or symptom pattern for the response to treatment in patients with unexplained (functional) dyspepsia is unknown. We hypothesized that patients with reflux- and ulcer-like symptoms would be more likely to respond to acid-lowering therapy, while psychological disturbances would be associated with a less favorable response to treatment. Seventy-eight patients with a diagnosis of functional dyspepsia were recruited and 75 completed the trial.

Prophylactic antibiotic treatment in patients with predicted severe acute pancreatitis: a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial.

Background & Aims: Antibiotic prophylaxis in necrotizing pancreatitis remains controversial. Until now, there have been no double-blind studies dealing with this topic.

Methods: A total sample size of 200 patients was calculated to demonstrate with a power of 90% that antibiotic prophylaxis reduces the proportion of patients with infected pancreatic necrosis from 40% placebo (PLA) to 20% ciprofloxacin/metronidazole (CIP/MET).