Genetic Basis of Hereditary and Sporadic Pancreatitis

The clinical syndromes of hereditary pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis have been recognised for many years but it is only recently that there has been interest in establishing whether there is a genetic basis in some patients with sporadic pancreatitis. A proportion of patients, particularly those with ‘idiopathic’ disease, has a family history of pancreatitis and the increasing sophistication of molecular biology techniques has allowed this to be studied more fully.