title: [Etiology on determining the severity of acute pancreatitis].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There exist contradictory results regarding the role of etiology in severity and mortality of acute pancreatitis. In the population of "Hospital General de México" we stablished their importance.
  
  
  METHODS
  We carried out a retrospective, comparative, longitudinal, and observational study. We determined sex, age, time of evolution, and subjective nutritional state of patients with diagnosis of acute pancreatitis from January 1, of 1996 to December 31, 2000. We compared days of hospitalization, severity, and mortality according to etiology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety five patients were studied, 54% with biliarY and 41% with alcoholic etiology. Differences did not exist in ages and times of symptom evolution, but did in distribution by sex and nutritional state. There were no differences in days of hospitalization but there were differences in severity and mortality when comparing groups of different etiologies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In acute pancreatitis, etiology is the decisive factor of severity and mortality, although this can be conditioned by sex of patient and nutritional state.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cirugía General, Hospital General de México O.D. Secretaría de Salud, Dr. Balmis 148, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, D.F. C.P. 06726.
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Lozada
authors.forename: Ana Vanessa
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Acosta-Rosero
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chapa-Azuela
authors.forename: Luis Mauricio
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hurtado-López
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D001660:Biliary Tract Diseases / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D019283:Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D019512:Pancreatitis, Alcoholic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate