title: Acute pancreatitis in Buskerud County, Norway. Incidence and etiology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Data on the incidence of acute pancreatitis in Norway are sparse. Danish studies have shown incidence rates increasing to about 35/100,000 (26-65% alcohol-induced), higher than found in American and British studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We have prospectively registered all cases of acute pancreatitis during 1 year in the county of Buskerud, with a population of 224,000.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of acute pancreatitis was 41.5 per 100,000. The median age of the patients was 63 years (range, 21-96 years). The main etiologic factors were gallstone disease (51%) and alcohol abuse (15%), whereas 10% of the cases were classified as idiopathic. Pseudocysts or abscesses developed in 8.8%. The mortality was 6.5%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence of acute pancreatitis in this population is comparable to what has been found elsewhere in Scandinavia, but the relative frequency of alcoholic pancreatitis is substantially less.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medicine, Buskerud Central Hospital, Drammen, Norway.
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Halvorsen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ritland
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D010192:Pancreatic Pseudocyst / Q000150:complications; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D011446:Prospective Studies