Prevalence, morbidity and mortality of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis in the General Hospital of Playa del Carmen, México. Analysis of five years

Introduction: Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is the underlying cause of pancreatitis in 7% of the general population and is the third cause after gallstones and alcohol. HTG may be associated with acute pancreatitis as an epiphenomenon or as a precipitant thereof. Generally, more than 75% of pancreatitis induced by hypertriglyceridemia is due to secondary causes and although these are not sufficient to elevate triglycerides to cause pancreatitis, a preexisting defect is required to obtain a TG>1000 mg/dL to induce acute pancreatitis.

Material and Method:

To identify the prevalence morbidity and mortality of acute pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia, a retrospective and cross-sectional observational clinical study was performed for a period of five years.

Results:

During the study period, 100 cases of acute pancreatitis of various etiologies were collected, 29 (29%) of which corresponded to acute pancreatitis of hypertriglyceridemic origin; history of risk: type 1 Diabetes mellitus one case (3.4%); Type 2 Diabetes mellitus 27 cases (24%); history of alcoholism nine cases (31%); positive smoking 4 cases (13.8%); hypertriglyceridemia 27 cases (94%); obesity 17 cases (59%); lipemic serum 19 cases (65.5%), and In-hospital stays average six days. Mortality in one case.