title: [Acute pancreatitis. A prospective epidemiological study in the province of Alicante. A Hospital Group for Study of Digestive Diseases in Alicante].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To gather epidemiological data on acute pancreatitis (AP) in Alicante area.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study of patients admitted to all public hospitals with AP during 1991.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients over 14 years, with elevation of serum amylase and a consistent clinical presentation, or in whom AP was confirmed at laparotomy or postmortem.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 473 episodes of AP in 450 patients (236 males and 214 females). The mean age was 59.4 years. The annual incidence was 451 per million habitants/year. The commonest aetiology was biliary (52%) followed by idiopathic forms (24.7%), alcoholic (20.2%) and miscellaneous (2.9%). The overall mortality rate was 5.1%. Male were more frequently affected below 50 years of age (2.4 men/1 woman); the ratio being balanced above this age. Biliary etiology was more frequent in women, (63.5%), while alcoholic forms were more frequent in man (96.8%). 5.1% of patients presented more than one episode of AP during the year analysed. AP involved the 0.58% of the all patients admitted to the hospitals and the 0.14% of the all patients attended in hospital emergencies.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de M. Interna del Hospital de Villajoyosa.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mínguez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Boix
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000681:Amylases / Q000097:blood; D004796:Clinical Enzyme Tests; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000681:Amylases
vernacular_title: Pancreatitis aguda. Estudio epidemiológico prospectivo en la provincia de Alicante. Grupo Hospitalario para el Estudio de Enfermedades Digestivas de Alicante.