Background. Does the amount of recently consumed alcohol correlate wit
h the severity of acute alcoholic pancreatitis? Methods. One hundred o
ne consecutive episodes of acute pancreatitis (AP) were prospectively
studied. Seventy-three were alcoholic AP episodes; 40 patients had the
ir first alcoholic AP episode. A standard personal interview was used
to determine the alcohol consumption during 2 months and during 1 week
before AP. The severity of AP was evaluated according to the Ranson c
riteria, the serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration measured 24
to 48 hours after admission, the length of the hospital stay, the deve
lopment of complications, and the mortality rate. Results. In the 40 p
atients having their first alcoholic AP episode, the reported 2-month
alcohol consumption correlated significantly with the number of positi
ve Ranson criteria (correlation coefficient r = 0.44, p < 0.01), serum
CRP concentration (r = 0.51, p < 0.001), and the length of the hospit
al stay (r = 0.45, p < 0.01). Complications occurred in eight of 14 pa
tients with 2-month alcohol consumption of more than 5000 gm as compar
ed with one of 14 patients with consumption of less than 2000 gm (p <
0.05). In the same 40 patients the 1-week alcohol consumption correlat
ed with the number of positive Ranson criteria (r = 0.40, p < 0.05) an
d serum CRP concentration (r = 0.37, p < 0.05). Of the 12 patients who
had consumed more than 1000 gm alcohol during the last week before ad
mission, two died and complications developed in six (50%), as compare
d with none (p < 0.05) and six (21%), respectively, of those who had c
onsumed less than 1000 gm. No significant correlations were observed b
etween the reported alcohol consumption and any of the severity parame
ters in the 33 patients with recurrent episodes of alcoholic AP. Concl
usions. The amount of alcohol consumed may be an important determinant
of the severity of the first alcoholic AP episode but not of recurren
t alcoholic AP.