title: Acute pancreatitis in pregnancy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The highest maternal-fetal risk from pancreatitis in pregnancy is likely to be posed by the most severe cases, which we have compared with mild cases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A general surgery department of a university referral hospital in Nanjing, China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighteen pregnancies complicated with severe acute pancreatitis and 51 pregnancies complicated with mild acute pancreatitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical records were reviewed for every pregnant woman with mild or severe acute pancreatitis during January 1999 to December 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information on demographics, clinical and laboratory data, maternal and fetal outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Gestational age of onset was significantly higher in the severe acute pancreatitis group than in the mild acute pancreatitis group. Severe hypertriglyceridemia was considered the main cause of severe acute pancreatitis (OR 20.7; 95% CI 4.6-92.4, p<0.001), while biliary disease contributed to the etiology of mild acute pancreatitis (OR 7.3; 95% CI 1.8-30.1, p<0.01). Abortions and preterm infants contributed to fetal loss in the mild group, while fetal death and stillbirth contributed in the severe group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hyperlipidemic pancreatitis and biliary pancreatitis are the main causes of severe and mild disease, respectively. Severe acute pancreatitis in pregnancy usually occurs in the third trimester, and the affected severe patients are more liable to develop a critical condition that results in higher risk of intrauterine fetal death.
authors.affiliation: Medical School of Nanjing University, Department of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, No. 305 East Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, China. njuslq@163.com
authors.forename: Liqun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Weiqin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yanxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Jieshou
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death; D006801:Humans; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D054238:Perinatal Mortality; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index