Prevalence of ischemic enterocolitis in patients with acute pancreatitis.
BACKGROUND
A considerable number of acute pancreatitis cases have been reported to be complicated by nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia. However, no reports have ever referred to the incidence of ischemic enterocolitis in patients with acute pancreatitis, using a series of autopsy cases. Here, we report our review of autopsy cases of patients with acute pancreatitis to examine the incidence of associated ischemic enterocolitis.


METHODS
The intestinal and pancreatic slides of 48 autopsy cases of patients with acute pancreatitis were reviewed and the incidence of ischemic enterocolitis was determined. Clinical case records were also reviewed.


RESULTS
Thirteen (27%) of 48 autopsy cases of patients with acute pancreatitis were complicated by ischemic enterocolitis. The frequency of shock was significantly higher in patients with ischemic enterocolitis than in those without ischemic enterocolitis. The intestinal lesion was diffuse in many cases and gangrene was not an unusual finding.


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of ischemic enterocolitis in patients with acute pancreatitis was much higher than that in the previous reports. Clinicians who treat patients with acute pancreatitis should consider ischemic enterocolitis as one of the frequent and severe complications of this condition.
Takahashi
Yoshihisa
Y
Department of Pathology, Teikyo University School of Medicine, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8605, Japan.
Fukushima
Jun-Ichi
J
Fukusato
Toshio
T
Shiga
Junji
J
Tanaka
Fumihiko
F
Imamura
Tetsuo
T
Fukayama
Masashi
M
Inoue
Tohru
T
Shimizu
Seiichiro
S
Mori
Shigeo
S
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004760:Enterocolitis / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000150:complications*; D012189:Retrospective Studies