title: Relationship between Plasma Triglyceride Level and Severity of Hypertriglyceridemic Pancreatitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertriglyceridemia is the third most common cause of acute pancreatitis, but whether the level of triglyceride (TG) is related to severity of pancreatitis is unclear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of TG level on the severity of hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis (HTGP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the records of 144 patients with HTGP from 1999 to 2013 at Tri-Service General Hospital. Patients with possible etiology of pancreatitis, such as gallstones, those consuming alcohol or drugs, or those with infections were excluded. The classification of severity of pancreatitis was based on the revised Atlanta classification. We allocated the patients into high-TG and low-TG groups based on the optimal cut-off value (2648 mg/dL), which was derived from the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve between TG level and severity of HTGP. We then compared the clinical characteristics, pancreatitis severity, and mortality rates of the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 66 patients in the low-TG group and 78 patients in the high-TG group. There was no significant difference in the age, sex ratio, body mass index, and comorbidity between the 2 groups. The high-TG group had significantly higher levels of glucose (P = 0.022), total cholesterol (P = 0.002), and blood urea nitrogen (P = 0.037), and lower levels of sodium (P = 0.003) and bicarbonate (P = 0.002) than the low-TG group. The incidences of local complication (P = 0.002) and severe and moderate form of pancreatitis (P = 0.004) were significantly higher in the high-TG group than in the low-TG group. The mortality rate was higher in the high-TG group than in the low-TG group (P = 0.07).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher TG level in patients with HTGP may be associated with adverse prognosis, but randomized and prospective studies are needed in the future verify this relationship.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Sheng-Huei
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yu-Ching
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei-Chuan
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Shangkuan
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Kuang-Yu
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yu-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hung-Che
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001639:Bicarbonates / Q000097:blood; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001806:Blood Urea Nitrogen; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012964:Sodium / Q000097:blood; D015996:Survival Rate; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D001639:Bicarbonates; D001786:Blood Glucose; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol; D012964:Sodium