Diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis - Is a gold standard necessary?

A single gold standard for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis is lacking. For most patients, a confident diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis can be established based on the clinical history and the available structural and functional tests. Histology is rarely available and is not always perfectly reliable. Early chronic pancreatitis or unexplained abdominal pain syndromes remain the most challenging problem; in this group, a true gold standard would be useful.