The new revised classification of acute pancreatitis 2012.

This study aims to update the 1991 Atlanta Classification of acute pancreatitis, to standardize the reporting of and terminology of the disease and its complications. Important features of this classification have incorporated new insights into the disease learned over the last 20 years, including the recognition that acute pancreatitis and its complications involve a dynamic process involving two phases, early and late. The accurate and consistent description of acute pancreatitis will help to improve the stratification and reporting of new methods of care of acute pancreatitis across different practices, geographic areas, and countries.