In April 2013, an international meeting on intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN) of the pancreas was convened in Verona, Italy, under the leadership and organization of Verona Pancreas Group. The pathology team of this expert meeting was tasked with assessing the current state and possible improvements in the pathologic evaluation of terminology and documentation of IPMN. Accordingly, through literature analysis and interdisciplinary discussions among the participants of the meeting and outside of the meeting, this group – led by Volkan Adsay (Atlanta), Mari Mino-Kenudson (Boston) e Toru Furukawa (Tokyo) -  developed consensus on refined definitions and basic guidelines for the pathologic evaluation and reporting of IPMN.

The resulting paper was recently published in the Annals of Surgery (Adsay V, Mino-Kenudson M, Furukawa T, Basturk O, Zamboni G, Marchegiani G, Bassi C, Salvia R, Malleo G, Paiella S, Wolfgang CL, Matthaei H, Offerhaus GJ, Adham M, Bruno MJ, Reid MD, Krasinskas A, Klöppel G, Ohike N, Tajiri T, Jang KT, Roa JC, Allen P, Fernández-Del Castillo C, Jang JY, Klimstra DS, Hruban RH; Members of the Verona Consensus Meeting, 2013. Pathologic Evaluation and Reporting of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms of the Pancreas and Other Tumoral Intraepithelial Neoplasms of Pancreatobiliary Tract: Recommendations of Verona Consensus Meeting. Ann Surg 2015 Mar 13, Epub ahead of print).

Many of the diagnostic criteria and management protocols for pancreatic IPMN remain challenging to apply, and some are highly controversial. The challenges often stem from a lack of uniform criteria in the pathologic evaluation, terminology, and parameters to be reported. In the authors’ view, the Verona guidelines may provide a common framework for a consistent evaluation and thorough documentation of pathologic characteristics of these neoplasms. The application of uniform terminology will be crucial for both the management of patients with IPMN and further unraveling of many puzzles of this entity.