A Retrospective Study On Acute Pancreatitis Of Mainland China

AIM: Many epidemiological studies have recently been published on acute pancreatitis;however, there is no known published report on pancreatitis in China. The present study aims to assess the etiology, severity, and associated mortality of acute pancreatitis in China.METHODS: Twelve medical centers located throughout mainland China were involved in this retrospective study. The medical records of 6,223 patients, who were admitted to these centers with first attacks of acute pancreatitis from September 1995 to September 2005, were reviewed. Epidemiological, laboratory, radiological and therapeutic data for each case were collected on a standardized form for analysis.Severity of pancreatitis was graded according to established criteria.RESULTS: Of the 6,223 patients (3,237 men, 2,986 women;mean age 51.2 ±17.3 years;range, 2-99 years), 4,480 (72.0%) had mild pancreatitis and 1,743 (28.0%) had the severe form. Biliary tract disease (54.4%) was the main etiologic factor, while in 19.7% the cause was identified as idiopathic. Endotherapy was performed in 12.5% of the severe biliary cases, but only in 38.0% it was performed within 72 hours. The mean duration of hospitalization for patients with mild cases was 14.6±10.6 days, while for the severe forms it was 24.0±23.8 days. The overall mortality rate was 4.6%;15.6% in severe and 0.3% in mild pancreatitis.CONCLUSION: In this retrospective study, biliary tract disease was the main etiologic factor of acute pancreatitis in China. The highest mortality occurred in severe idiopathic pancreatitis, and there was clear relationship between mortality and age.