Severe Acute Pancreatitis and Pregnancy

• Published in: Pancreatology : official journal of the International Association of Pancreatology (IAP) ... [et al.] Vol. 6; no. 4; pp. 309 - 315
• Main Authors: Robertson, K.W., Stewart, I.S., Imrie, C.W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland Elsevier B.V 01.08.2006; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Case Report; Cholelithiasis; Female; Gallstones - complications; Humans; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing - diagnostic imaging; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing - etiology; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing - therapy; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications - diagnostic imaging; Pregnancy Complications - etiology; Pregnancy Complications - therapy; Pregnancy-associated pancreatitis; Severe acute pancreatitis; Severe acute pancreatitis and pregnancy; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Severe acute pancreatitis and pregnancy; Pregnancy-associated pancreatitis; Severe acute pancreatitis; Cholelithiasis
• ISSN: 1424-3903; 1424-3911
• DOI: 10.1159/000092694

For most patients with pregnancy-associated pancreatitis there is little maternal survival threat and only occasionally are there foetal deaths. We describe 4 young women with pregnancy-associated severe acute pancreatitis who each had gallstones. Their ages were 17, 18, 20 and 24 years. Each was a tertiary referral to our unit in Glasgow and each pursued a life-threatening course with hospital stays ranging from 37 to 90 days. One patient required pancreatic necrosectomy for infected necrosis, another had percutaneous management of a pancreatic abscess and 2 had cystogastrostomy as treatment for pancreatic pseudocyst. All underwent early endoscopic sphincterotomy and later cholecystectomy. It is important to be aware that pregnancy-associated acute pancreatitis may be severe, posing a survival threat even in the youngest patients. Gallstones, as we reported almost 20 years ago, are the most common aetiological factor in such patients.