Pancreatitis in systemic lupus erythematosus: still in search of a mechanism.
Pancreatitis in SLE remains an enigma and probably results from multiple pathogenetic mechanisms. However, cases of pancreatic thrombus formation remain few and far between, suggesting that APS is not the major cause of pancreatitis. Whether aPL contribute to pancreatic thrombus formation in rare patients needs to be demonstrated by antemortum arteriographic studies showing thrombus or vasculopathy. The postmortem pancreatic examination of patients who have died of the disseminated vasculopathy-coagulopathy syndrome remains problematic, because if thrombi are found, they may simply represent the endstage of multiple mechanisms, including hypotension, hypoxia, DIC, or TTP, rather than an aPL specific mechanism.
Petri
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D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications*; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000209:etiology*