Hypertriglyceridaemia-Induced Acute Pancreatitis: A Different Disease Phenotype

Greta Dancu; Felix Bende; Mirela Danila; Roxana Sirli; Alina Popescu; Cristi Tarta

doi:10.3390/diagnostics12040868

Hypertriglyceridaemia-Induced Acute Pancreatitis: A Different Disease Phenotype

Diagnostics (Basel). 2022 Mar 31;12(4):868. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics12040868.

Authors

Greta Dancu¹, Felix Bende¹, Mirela Danila¹, Roxana Sirli¹, Alina Popescu¹, Cristi Tarta²

Affiliations

¹ Center for Advanced Research in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Eftimie Murgu Sq. No. 2, 300041 Timisoara, Romania.
² Department X, 2nd Surgical Clinic, Researching Future Chirurgie 2, "Victor Babes" University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara, Eftimie Murgu Sq. No. 2, 300041 Timisoara, Romania.

Abstract

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is the most common gastrointestinal indication requiring hospitalisation. Severe hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG) is the third most common aetiology of AP (HTGAP), with a complication rate and severity that are higher than those of other aetiologies (non-HTGAP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the supposedly higher complication rate of HTGAP compared to non-HTGAP. The secondary objectives were to find different biomarkers for predicting a severe form. This was a retrospective study that included patients admitted with AP in a tertiary department of gastroenterology and hepatology. The patients were divided into two groups: HTGAP and non-HTGAP. We searched for differences regarding age, gender, the presence of diabetes mellitus (DM), the severity of the disease, the types of complications and predictive biomarkers for severity, hospital stay and mortality. A total of 262 patients were included, and 11% (30/262) of the patients had HTGAP. The mean ages were 44.4 ± 9.2 in the HTGAP group and 58.2 ± 17.1 in the non-HTGAP group, p < 0.0001. Male gender was predominant in both groups, at 76% (23/30) in the HTGAP group vs. 54% (126/232) in non-HTGAP, p = 0.02; 53% (16/30) presented with DM vs. 18% (42/232), p < 0.0001. The patients with HTG presented higher CRP 48 h after admission: 207 mg/dL ± 3 mg/dL vs. non-HTGAP 103 mg/dL ± 107 mg/dL, p < 0.0001. Among the patients with HTGAP, there were 60% (18/30) with moderately severe forms vs. 30% (71/232), p = 0.001, and 16% (5/30) SAP vs. 11% (27/232) in non-HTGAP, p = 0.4 Among the predictive markers, only haematocrit (HT) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) had AUCs > 0.8. According to a multiple regression analysis, only BUN 48 h was independently associated with the development of SAP (p = 0.05). Diabetes mellitus increased the risk of developing severe acute pancreatitis (OR: 1.3; 95% CI: 0.1963−9.7682; p = 0.7). In our cohort, HTGAP more frequently had local complications compared with non-HTGAP. A more severe inflammatory syndrome seemed to be associated with this aetiology; the best predictive markers for complicated forms of HTGAP were BUN 48 h and HT 48 h.

Keywords: acute pancreatitis; hypertriglyceridaemia; inflammation markers; severity prediction.