Objective: To improve the understanding of autoimmune disease related pancreatitis by analyzing their clinical features.
Methods: The clinical features were analyzed retrospectively in 28 autoimmune disease related pancreatitis cases from Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), according to the associated autoimmune diseases.
Results: (1) The average age was (40.0 +/- 16.1) years, and the ratio of male to female patients was 1:6. There were 24 acute and 4 chronic pancreatitis in the 28 cases. (2) The common related autoimmune diseases were systemic lupus erythematosus (20/28) and Sjögren's syndrome (6/28). (3) The characteristics of the autoimmune diseases was multi-system involvement, such as hematologic system, kidney, liver, etc. (4) Clinical features of those acute pancreatitis shown that no distinct trigger exist for acute pancreatitis, and the radiological changing was not prominent. (5) In laboratory examination, an obvious increase of CA199 could be seen, paralleling the severity of pancreatitis. (6) Glucocorticoids or immunosuppressors was effective, and the mortality rate of acute pancreatitis cases was 33.3%.
Conclusions: Autoimmune disease related pancreatitis is dominant with acute pancreatitis and females is common, which may reflect the activity of autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune disease related acute pancreatitis has a high mortality rate. Glucocorticoids and/or immunosuppressors may be useful to relieve the pancreatitis.