Analysis of clinical features of acute pancreatitis in Shandong Province, China.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate and obtain a more comprehensive view of the etiology and clinical features of acute pancreatitis in China.


METHODS
The study comprised 1471 patients in 10 cites of China who were admitted to hospitals for acute pancreatitis from January 1992 to December 2002. Data for each patient were collected on a standardized form.


RESULTS
Of the 1471 patients (854 men, 617 women; mean age 43.3 years; range 13-82 years), 1280 had mild pancreatitis and 191 had the severe form. Cholelithiasis (20.2%), alcohol (17.3%) and diet-induced (12.4%) were the most frequent etiological factors, followed by biliary tract infections (5.6%), hyperlipidemia (2.3%) and other factors (5.1%). However, in about 36.1% of cases, the etiology of acute pancreatitis still remained unexplained. In coastal regions, cholelithiasis was the most frequent factor but alcohol ranked first in interior regions. In males, a small predominance of alcohol over cholelithiasis was seen (27.4%vs 14.3%) and there was a clear predominance of cholelithiasis over alcohol (28.4%vs 3.2%) in females. The differences in the frequency of cholelithiasis and alcohol between coastal regions and interior regions and males and females were statistically significant (P < 0.01). According to their frequency, complications of acute pancreatitis were pancreatic pseudocyst, pancreatic ascites and bacterial peritonitis, pulmonary infections, multiple organ failure, diabetes mellitus type 2 and shock.


CONCLUSIONS
Cholelithiasis, alcohol and diet-induced factors were the main etiological factors seen in China, whereas cholelithiasis alone predominated in females and alcohol ranked first in males. In about 36.1% of cases, the etiology of acute pancreatitis remained unknown. More attention should be paid to studying the etiologies of acute pancreatitis that remain unknown.
Gao
Yan Jing
YJ
Shandong University Qi-Lu Hospital, Ji-Nan City, Japan.
Li
Yan Qing
YQ
Wang
Qing
Q
Li
Shen Lin
SL
Li
Guo Qing
GQ
Ma
Ji
J
Zeng
Xian Zhong
XZ
Huang
Liu Ye
LY
Yuan
Sheng An
SA
Liu
Chun An
CA
Wang
Fu Xian
FX
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000175:diagnosis*