Showing papers on "Pancreatitis published in 1985"

Death due to acute pancreatitis. A retrospective analysis of 405 autopsy cases.

Abstract: A large retrospective autopsy study of patients was analyzed to evaluate the major etiologic and pathologic factors contributing to fatal acute pancreatitis (AP). From an autopsy population of 50,227 patients, 405 cases were identified where AP was defined as the official primary cause of death. AP was classified according to morphological and histological, but not biochemical, criteria. Patients with AP died significantly earlier than a control autopsy population of 38,259 patients. Sixty percent of the AP patients died within 7 days of admission. Pulmonary edema and congestion were significantly more prevalent in this group, as was the presence of hemorrhagic pancreatitis. In the remaining 40% of patients surviving longer than 7 days, infection was the major factor contributing to death. Major etiologic groups in AP were chronic alcoholism; postabdominal surgery; common duct stones; a small miscellaneous group including viral hepatitis, drug, and postpartum cases; and a large idiopathic group comprising patients with cholelithiasis, diabetes mellitus, and ischemia. The prevalence of established diabetes mellitus in the AP group was significantly higher than that observed in the autopsy control series, suggesting that this disease should be considered as an additional risk factor influencing survival in AP. Pulmonary complications, including pulmonary edema and congestion, appeared to be the most significant factor contributing to death and occurred even in those cases where the pancreatic damage appeared to be only moderate in extent. Emphasis placed on the early recognition and treatment of pulmonary edema in all cases of moderate and severe AP should contribute significantly to an increase in survival in this disease.

Acute pancreatitis: a lethal disease of increasing incidence.

Abstract: Between 1968 and 1979 650 patients in the Bristol clinical area suffered 737 attacks of acute pancreatitis. Sex distribution was approximately equal and mean age was 60 years. Comparison with the previous decade shows an increase in mean annual incidence of first attacks from 53.8 to 73.0 cases per million population. Case mortality was unchanged at 20%. In no less than 35% of fatal cases the diagnosis was first made at necropsy. Gall stones were detected in 50% of first attacks, predominantly in women. The proportion of alcoholics (8% overall) increased three-fold during the period of the study. In 23% of cases no aetiological cause was identified. Eighty patients suffered 99 recurrent attacks of acute pancreatitis, with a mortality rate (12%) that was not significantly lower than that of the first attack. Neglected gall stones accounted for 51% of these subsequent attacks.

Controlled Clinical Trial of Peritoneal Lavage for the Treatment of Severe Acute Pancreatitis

Abstract: We performed a multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial of therapeutic peritoneal lavage (2 liters per hour for three days) in 91 patients with severe acute pancreatitis. Patients were entered into the study if severe pancreatitis was indicated by multiple laboratory criteria or diagnostic peritoneal lavage. All patients received full supportive treatment. The median time between the onset of symptoms and randomization was 38 hours. Forty-six patients were assigned to the control group and 45 to the lavage group. There were 13 deaths (28 per cent) and 16 patients with major complications (35 per cent) in the control group, as compared with 12 deaths (27 per cent) and 17 patients with major complications (38 per cent) in the lavage group. Lavage did not appear to modify the length of survival, the incidence of pancreatic collections (pseudocysts or abscesses), or the plasma amylase concentration. Considering the statistical power of the design, we conclude that the outcome of severe pancreatitis was not greatly, if at all, influenced by the regimen of peritoneal lavage used in this study.

Timing of surgical drainage for pancreatic pseudocyst. Clinical and chemical criteria.

Abstract: Traditional concepts of managing pancreatic pseudocysts have changed with the advent of computerized tomography (CT) and ultrasound scanning, but new misconceptions related to spontaneous resolution have replaced some old ones. This report shows a difference in natural history and treatment requirements when pseudocysts are associated with acute versus chronic pancreatitis. There were 42 consecutive patients with pseudocysts treated over 5 years. Thirty-one were known alcoholics, two had gallstone pancreatitis, and nine had idiopathic pancreatitis. An attack of acute pancreatitis was identifiable within 2 months preceding in 22 patients, but there were only chronic symptoms in 20. Spontaneous resolution of the pseudocyst occurred in three patients (7%), all of whom had recent acute idiopathic pancreatitis, normal serum amylase levels, and pancreatograms showing normal pancreatic ducts freely communicating with the pseudocyst. Factors associated with failure to resolve included known chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic duct changes of chronic pancreatitis, persistence greater than 6 weeks, and thick walls (when seen) on scan. Nearly all (18/19) patients with known chronic pancreatitis had successful internal drainage of the pseudocysts immediately upon admission, whereas 6/20 patients with antecedent acute pancreatitis were found to require external drainage at the time surgery was eventually elected. Isoamylase analysis, performed on serum from 19 patients by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, detected the abnormal pancreatic isoamylase pattern described as "old amylase" in 15. When old amylase was present in the serum, internal drainage was always possible (14/14). In four of five patients whose serum contained no detectable old amylase, internal drainage was not possible regardless of the length of prior observation. There were four nonfatal complications arising from an acute pseudocyst during the wait for maturity. It is concluded that prolonged waiting is expensive and unnecessary for pseudocysts in chronic pancreatitis when there has been no recent acute attack. However, pseudocysts developing after identifiable acute pancreatitis should be observed in the safety of a hospital for up to 6 weeks to allow for either spontaneous resolution or maturation of the cyst wall. The appearance of old amylase in the serum suggests that the pseudocyst wall has achieved sufficient maturity to allow safe internal anastomosis.

Improved survival in 45 patients with pancreatic abscess.

Abstract: The reported mortality due to pancreatic abscesses after acute pancreatitis has been 30 to 50%, a statistic that has remained unchanged for decades. This is a report of 45 patients treated over 10 years, showing a dramatic improvement in survival during that period. They represent 2.5% of admissions at the Massachusetts General Hospital for acute pancreatitis. The identifiable antecedents included alcohol (38%), gallstones (11%), and surgical trauma (16%), or were unknown in 24%. Computerized tomography (CT) was clearly the best means of specific diagnosis (unequivocal evidence in 74%, suggestive in 21%). Treatment in 44 patients was surgical debridement and catheter drainage, and in one it was resection of the pancreatic head. Multiple abscesses were present at the first operation in 21 patients. Seven had second drainage procedures for additional abscesses. In the first 5 years (1974-1978), 10 of 26 patients died (38%). In the second 5 years (1979-1983), one of 19 died (5%) (p less than 0.01). Postoperative complications (84%) included wound hemorrhage (9 of 26 vs. 1 of 19), systemic sepsis (7 of 26 vs. 1 of 19), pancreatic fistula (14/45, 13 of which closed spontaneously), colonic perforation (4), duodenal perforation (2), and gastric perforation (1). The causes of death were renal and respiratory failure with sepsis (7), hemorrhage (3), and pulmonary emboli (1). Analysis of the findings shows in the second 5-year period more frequent use of CT to certify the diagnosis of pancreatic abscess earlier, a more aggressive attitude producing earlier surgical intervention, and more extensive drainage and debridement of associated necrotic tissue. Transcatheter arterial embolization was used successfully to control postoperative hemorrhage from the abscess cavity. CT-guided percutaneous catheter drainage was used occasionally for drainage of recurrent abscesses. Neither open packing of major pancreatic abscesses nor lavage of the abscess cavity, as recently advocated, was necessary.

Diagnostic assays in acute pancreatitis. A study of sensitivity and specificity.

Abstract: The sensitivity and specificity of five assays used to diagnose acute pancreatitis were studied: two amylase assays; one lipase; one trypsinogen; and one pancreatic isoamylase. Thirty-nine patients with acute pancreatitis were compared to 127 controls with abdominal pain. Using the upper limit of normal both amylase assays appeared sensitive but somewhat nonspecific (specificities of 88.9% and 86%, respectively). The trypsinogen and pancreatic isoamylase assays were also relatively nonspecific (specificity of 82.8% and 85.1%). Most nonspecific elevations occurred between a one- and twofold elevation of each assay. Lipase, however, maintained excellent specificity (99%) at its upper limit of normal. If the level of best cutoff is used instead (the level that best enhances sensitivity and specificity), the specificities of both amylase assays, as well as the trypsinogen and pancreatic isoamylase assays, exceed 95%. At the best cutoff level, trypsinogen maintains a qualitative advantage in sensitivity over lipase or pancreatic isoamylase (97.4% as compared to 86.5% and 84.6%).

Computed tomography and the prediction of pancreatic abscess in acute pancreatitis.

Abstract: Pancreatic abscess has become the most common cause of death from acute pancreatitis. Since computed tomography (CT) permits noninvasive imaging of the peripancreatic anatomy, the relationship of early CT findings to late pancreatic sepsis has been evaluated in 83 patients with acute pancreatitis. Pancreatic abscesses developed in 18 patients and were responsible for five of the six deaths in this study. Initial CT findings were graded: A = normal, in 12 patients; B = pancreatic enlargement alone, in 19; C = inflammation confined to pancreas and peripancreatic fat, in 17; D = one peripancreatic fluid collection, in 12; and E = two or more fluid collections, in 23. The incidence of pancreatic abscess in grades A and B was 0%; in grade C, 11.8%; in grade D, 16.7; and in grade E, 60.9%. The severity of pancreatitis was also graded by previously reported prognostic signs as "mild" (0-2 signs) in 56 patients, "moderate" (3-5 signs) in 22, and "severe" (greater than or equal to 6 signs) in five patients. The incidence of abscesses in mild disease was 12.5%; in moderate, 31.8%; and in severe, 80%. Fluid collections on CT resolved spontaneously in 19 of 35 (54.3%) patients. Abscess developed in two patients with no fluid collections on initial CT study. No abscess occurred in 31 patients with CT grades A or B, and in one of 22 patients (4.5%) with CT grade C or D and less than three positive prognostic signs. Among 30 patients with CT grade E or CT grade C or D and three or more positive prognostic signs, 17 (56.7%) developed abscesses. All deaths were in patients with five or more positive prognostic signs. Early imaging of the pancreas by CT identifies a group of patients with increased risk of pancreatic abscess. Identification of this group is improved further by use of early objective prognostic signs.

Results of surgical treatment of necrotizing pancreatitis.

Abstract: In 205 patients with necrotizing pancreatitis, surgery was carried out following failure of medical treatment. Intraoperatively, according to the size of the necrotic area and the weight of the surgically removed necrotic tissue, 79 patients showed a limited pancreatic necrosis, and 126 patients an extended necrotizing process. In 40.4% of 138 patients with bacteriological reports, a bacterial contamination of the pancreatic necrosis was found. The main objective of surgical management was the removal of the necrotic tissue. This was performed with 2-way drainage and postoperative continuous peritoneal and/or local lavage, in a smaller group of patients with inner drainage of the necrosis cavity, and in a few patients with drainage alone. The overall hospital mortality rate was 24.4%. The lowest mortality was achieved in patients treated with necrosectomy and postoperative continuous local lavage (6.0%). In patients with necrosis of approximately 30% of the pancreas, mortality was lower (7.6%) than in patients with a 50% necrosis (24.0%) or in patients with a subtotal/total necrosis (51.0%) (p<0.0001). Formation of extrapancreatic necrosis resulted in a significantly increased mortality rate (p<0.02). In patients with bacterially contaminated necrosis, a mortality rate of 32.1% was found, whereas in patients with a sterile necrosis, mortality was down to 9.8% (p<0.01). Based on the results of this study, we conclude that the clinical course of necrotizing pancreatitis depends essentially on the extent of the necrosis in the pancreas itself, the development of extrapancreatic necrosis, and the bacteriological status of the necrotic area. Adequate surgical management leads to a considerably increased survival rate of patients with necrotizing pancreatitis.

Pancreatic pseudocysts: cause, therapy, and results.

Abstract: Sixty-nine patients with pancreatic pseudocysts were reviewed. Chronic alcohol abuse was associated with pancreatitis in 78 percent of the patients. Presenting signs and symptoms were nonspecific. Ultrasonographic and computerized axial tomographic scans were most commonly used to established the diagnosis. Twenty patients were managed conservatively and resolution occurred in 11 of these patients. Forty-nine patients underwent operation. Internal drainage was performed on 31 occasions in 29 patients, and external drainage was performed in 11. In addition, pancreatic resection was carried out in 8 patients, and needle aspiration in 2 patients. Infected pseudocysts were present in 11 patients. Complications occurred in 18 patients in the operated group and 2 patients died (4 percent). There was recurrence of pseudocysts in 10 patients. Our results suggest that pseudocysts remain a common complication of pancreatitis, and infected pseudocysts are the major cause of postoperative morbidity. Computerized axial tomography and ultrasonography are the mainstays of diagnosis. Surgical therapy is safe, but continues to be associated with significant rates of morbidity and recurrence. When pseudocysts recur, they are generally anatomically distant from the original lesion and probably represent new disruptions of the pancreatic duct.

Tropical pancreatic diabetes in South India: heterogeneity in clinical and biochemical profile.

Abstract: Clinical and biochemical studies were carried out in 33 patients with diabetes secondary to chronic calcific, non-alcoholic pancreatitis (tropical pancreatic diabetes) and in 35 Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients and 35 nondiabetic subjects. Despite lower body mass indices, only 25% of patients with tropical pancreatic diabetes had clinical evidence of malnutrition. There was no history of cassava ingestion. Mean serum cholesterol concentration was significantly lower in the tropical pancreatic diabetic patients (p<0.01) in comparison with the Type 2 diabetic patients or non-diabetic subjects, due to a significantly decreased concentration of LDL cholesterol (p<0.01) and VLDL cholesterol (p<0.05). Basal and post-glucose stimulated concentrations of serum C-peptide were highest in those pancreatic diabetic patients (n=11) who responded to oral hypoglycaemic drugs, intermediate in the majority (n=17), who were insulin dependent and ketosis resistant and negligible in a small sub-group (n=5) who were ketosis prone. The occurrence of microangiopathy in pancreatic diabetic patients was common and similar to that in Type 2 diabetic patients. Thus, tropical pancreatic diabetes in South India appears to be heterogenous with respect to level of nutrition, severity of glucose intolerance, B-cell function, response to therapy and the occurrence of microvascular complications.

Detection of gall stones after acute pancreatitis.

Abstract: Four methods of gall stone diagnosis after an attack of acute pancreatitis are analysed. Of 128 consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis, 99 patients were discharged from hospital without a definite aetiology. These patients had biochemical tests performed on admission and ultrasonography and oral cholecystography performed six weeks later. The sensitivity for ultrasonography was 87% and the specificity was 93%; the respective figures for oral cholecystography were 83% and 90%. The predictive value of positive ultrasonography was 100% and of negative ultrasonography 75%; the respective values for oral cholecystography were 95% and 68%. A combination of ultrasonography and oral cholecystography failed to detect nine of 70 patients with gall stones (13%). Of 35 patients with normal ultrasonography and oral cholecystography, 33 patients had an endoscopic retrograde cholangiogram (ERCP) which showed gall stones in a further seven patients. All three methods failed to reveal gall stones in two patients, confirmed by laparotomy. The sensitivity of admission biochemical analysis was 73% and the specificity was 94%; the predictive value of a positive result was 97% and of a negative result was 57%. Biochemical analysis predicted gall stones in six of the seven patients shown by ERCP. Only 9% of patients were finally considered to be idiopathic. In conclusion ultrasonography is the investigation of choice and ERCP should be undertaken in all patients who have normal ultrasonography and/or oral cholecystography but have biochemical criteria indicative of gall stones.

Cytologic criteria for the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma.

Abstract: Fine-needle aspiration and endoscopic aspiration of pancreatic cells permit the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma and avoid the complications and morbidity of pancreatic biopsy. In this study, the accuracy of fine-needle and endoscopic aspiration were compared, and cytologic criteria for pancreatic carcinoma were sought. Pancreatic cytologic preparations from 79 patients, including 39 fine-needle aspirates and 48 endoscopic aspirates, were retrospective reviewed. When compared with definitive tissue diagnosis or clinical course, fine-needle aspiration had a sensitivity for pancreatic carcinoma of 79%. Endoscopic aspiration of pancreatic secretions had a sensitivity of only 33%. There was a single falsely suspicious fine-needle aspirate, but there were no false positive diagnoses when using either collection technic. Seventeen cytologic features were examined to determine cytologic criteria of malignancy. The presence of disoriented or crowded cells in three-dimensional groups, and extreme nuclear enlargement combined with nuclear contour irregularity were the best criteria for pancreatic malignancy.

Idiopathic pancreatitis associated with inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract: The list of extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel diseases does not classically include pancreatitis and pancreatic insufficiency. We report here six cases of unexplained pancreatitis associated with inflammatory bowel disease (five patients with Crohn's disease, one with indeterminate colitis). None of the classical etiologies for pancreatitis was found in our patients; moreover none of them had duodenal localization of Crohn's disease or sclerosing cholangitis, two conditions in which pancreatitis associated with inflammatory bowel disease has been previously described. Pancreatitis was painless (or was associated with moderate and atypical abdominal pain) in four of our six cases; no pancreatic calcification was found in any case; in three patients a total or subtotal exocrine pancreatic insufficiency was evidenced. Endoscopic retrograde pancreatography performed in four subjects showed normal or minimally altered pancreatic ducts even in those with severe pancreatic insufficiency. These cases emphasize the existence of a probably nonfortuitous association of inflammatory bowel disease with pancreatitis. Its recognition could make a significant contribution in the management of inflammatory bowel disease.

Neuropathology of chronic pancreatitis in humans.

Abstract: To investigate the pathogenesis of pain in chronic pancreatitis, tissue resected from 50 patients with this condition was examined by light microscopy. An examiner, blinded to clinical and pathological data, graded perineural fibrosis, inflammation and the composition of inflammatory infiltrate in 2132 separate perineural fields. Correlation of perineural fibrosis and inflammation grading with alcohol ingestion and pain severity was insignificant. Pain severity did correlate with the timing of alcohol consumption. Although calcification significantly affected pain severity, the status of duct dilatation was not significant. Eosinophils were observed in disproportionate numbers in the perineural infiltrate. The correlation of percentage eosinophilic infiltrate and pain severity was highly significant. Timing of alcohol consumption also correlated significantly with the percentage eosinophilic infiltration. As eosinophils are known to be cytotoxic and injurious to tissue by liberation of enzymes through degranulation, the findings of this study suggest that the pain of chronic pancreatitis may be mediated by perineural eosinophils, through a chemotactic mechanism involving alcohol.

Amino acid concentrations in plasma and skeletal muscle of patients with acute hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis.

Abstract: We measured amino acid concentrations in plasma and skeletal muscle of three groups of patients with acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis: (a) patients without secondary organ lesions, (b) patients also suffering from kidney damage, and (c) patients in whom the pancreatitis was accompanied by sepsis and multiple organ failure. In all three groups, especially the third group, the amino acid concentrations in both plasma and muscle were below normal. Glutamine was only 14% of normal in muscle tissue of the third group. Onset of renal insufficiency was indicated by increasing values for 3-methylhistidine and cystathionine; multiple organ failure, by increased concentrations of methionine and phenylalanine in plasma. The low amino acid concentrations of patients with acute pancreatitis can be explained as a combined effect of semistarvation and hypercatabolism. Changes in the plasma concentrations of amino acids did not reflect necessarily the concentrations in muscle tissue.

Acute pancreatitis after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Abstract: We have described a spectrum of pancreatic surgery after cardiopulmonary bypass. At one end is a subclinical lesion which was manifested only by elevations in serum isoamylase levels (27 percent of patients) and increased ribonuclease levels (13 percent of patients) in asymptomatic patients followed after cardiac surgery. At the other end is a severe and often lethal necrotizing pancreatitis. Acute necrotizing pancreatitis was found at autopsy in 25 percent of 138 patients who died after cardiac surgery, and it correlated strongly with low output, acute tubular necrosis, and infarction of the liver, spleen, or bowel. It was the principal cause of death in 4 percent of these patients. In addition, 24 percent of 38 nonsurgical patients who died from cardiac failure and hypoperfusion had acute pancreatitis at autopsy, whereas acute pancreatitis was not observed in 55 nonsurgical patients who died without a significant period of low output. Acute pancreatitis was recognized postoperatively in 12 patients (0.2 percent). Three had mild pancreatitis, and all responded well to conservative therapy. In nine patients, fulminant necrotizing pancreatitis developed. Their courses were characterized by significant early postoperative hemodynamic compromise, abdominal distention, ileus, fever, and episodes of late vascular instability associated with hypocalcemia. The diagnosis of pancreatitis was usually missed because of the absence of pain, tenderness and hyperamylasemia. The diagnosis was confirmed at laparotomy in eight patients and at autopsy in one. The only two survivors among the nine with severe cases had aggressive mobilization, debridement, and wide drainage of the necrotic pancreas. We suggest that a mild subclinical injury to the pancreas may occur as a consequence of cardiopulmonary bypass and may progress to severe ischemic necrosis if hypoperfusion follows in the postoperative period, the presentation of necrotizing pancreatitis may be atypical in the cardiac surgical patient and should be considered if nonspecific abdominal symptoms are present, and aggressive debridement and drainage may be the optimal treatment for aggressive forms of this disease.

Irritable bowel syndrome--prognosis and diagnostic safety. A 5-year follow-up study.

Abstract: The irritable bowel syndrome is the commonest diagnosis in gastroenterological clinics, although diagnostic criteria and investigatory programs vary. To elucidate the diagnostic safety and prognosis of the syndrome, a retrospective study was conducted. One hundred and twelve consecutive patients with irritable bowel syndrome as the final and only abdominal diagnosis in the period 1977-79 were followed up in 1984. Seventeen patients died during the follow-up period; two of these were considered diagnostic failures (chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer). Of the remaining 95 patients, 93 were available for the follow-up study. Three diagnostic failures were found (gallbladder stones, kidney stone, thyrotoxicosis). The diagnostic failure rate was accordingly 4.5% (5/110). Half of the patients had unchanged or aggravated symptoms at the follow-up study, independent of treatment. The only predictor of a poor prognosis was abdominal surgery before the diagnosis.

Pancreatic sphincterotomy and pancreatic endoprosthesis.

Abstract: Recently, endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST), developed as a treatment of bile duct stone or papillary stenosis, has been used for transpapillary biliary drainage in cases of extrahepatic biliary stenosis. For the nonoperative treatment of chronic pancreatitis, we have developed this procedure into a technique for opening the pancreatic duct orifice. Pancreatic sphincterotomy was performed successfully in 10 out of 13 cases with chronic pancreatitis and improved the clinical symptoms in 9 cases. Moreover, in 3 cases we succeeded in inspecting the intrapancreatic duct by peroral pancreatoscopy, and in removing stones from the main pancreatic duct in 2 cases in this series, using the basket. Also through the opened pancreatic orifice, a pancreatic endoprosthesis was placed endoscopically into the main pancreatic duct in 3 cases to improve pancreatic drainage. This report discusses method, evaluation, and complications of pancreatic sphincterotomy in the endoscopic treatment of chronic pancreatitis, and describes successful cases of the basket removal of pancreatic stones and the placement of pancreatic endoprosthesis through the opening of the pancreatic orifice.

Long term results of pancreaticojejunostomy in chronic pancreatitis.

Abstract: Fifty-one consecutive pancreaticojejunostomies for pain in chronic pancreatitis performed during the years 1964 to 1983 have been reviewed. Mean observation time was 8.2 years. Information on alcohol consumption, pain intensity and clinical signs of pancreatic dysfunction was recorded at regular intervals. Operative mortality was nil. Analysis showed no difference between alcohol abusers and other patients with regard to calcification, ductal dilation or exocrine and endocrine insufficiency. Good to excellent pain relief was achieved in 65 per cent of abusers and 88 per cent of nonabusers and was stable for at least five years. Patients who are heavy and unremitting abusers did not get much pain relief as a result of the operation. Patency of the anastomosis does not seem to be crucial for pain relief after pancreaticojejunostomy.