ACUTE-PANCREATITIS - A PROSPECTIVE EPIDEM IOLOGIC-STUDY IN THE ALICANTE AREA

Objective: To gather epidemiological data on acute pancreatitis (AP) i n Alicante area. Experimental design: A prospective study of patients admitted to all public hospitals with AP during 1991. Patients: Patien ts over 14 years, with elevation of serum amylase and a consistent cli nical presentation, or in whom AP was confirmed at laparotomy or postm ortem. Results: We identified 473 episodes of AP in 450 patients (236 males and 214 females). The mean age was 59.4 years. The annual incide nce was 451 per million habitants/year. The commonest aetiology was bi liary (52%) followed by idiopathic forms (24.7%), alcoholic (20.2%) an d miscellaneous (2.9%). The overall mortality rate was 5.1%. Male were more frequently affected below 50 years of age (2.4 men/1 woman); the ratio being balanced above this age. Biliary etiology was more freque nt in women, (63.5%), while alcoholic forms were more frequent in man (96.8%). 5.1% of patients presented more than one episode of AP during the year analysed. AP involved the 0.58% of the all patients admitted to the hospitals and the 0.14% of the all patients attended in hospit al emergencies. Conclusions: The incidence of AP in Alicante is one of the highest in Spain, with one of the lowest mortality rate. Biliary etiology is the commonest cause, predominated in female sex and old pa tients, while alcoholic AP is seen in young men patients. As a whole, AP is frecuent pathology in hospital emergencies.