ACUTE-PANCREATITIS AND INFECTION WITH THE HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS

Background. Retrospective study of the etiology and evolution of 40 ep isodes of acute pancreatitis in 28 patients infected with the human im munodeficiency virus (HIV). Results. AIDS criteria were met by 89.3% o f patients. The likely etiology was an opportunist infection in 32.5% of episodes, drug use in 22.5%, and biliary lithiasis in 5%. AP second ary to AIDS-associated cholangitis occurred in 35.7% of episodes. Sixt y percent of episodes were severe in nature, The mortality rate reache d 30%. Conclusions. AP in HIV infected patients: a) is more frequent i n the advanced stages of disease; b) opportunistic infections and drug s are the most frequent causes in our environment; c) in a third of pa tients it is probably secondary to AIDS associated cholangitis; d) bil iary lithiasis seems to be less common than in the general population, and e) it is associated with a high severity and mortality.