The authors report 115 cases of acute pancreatitis who were either operated on or autopsied and emphasise the severity of the glandular parenchymatous involvement which remains, furthermore, difficult to recognise during manual exploration. Necrosis is sometimes limited to the peripheral interstitial tissue and spares the gland itself (the prognosis is then less serious) and has led many surgeons to resections which did not always seem justified a posteriori. The authors refer to pancreatic decapsulation, described by rumanian authors, and suggest a method of operative diagnosis of the extent of glandular necrosis.