RESUMEN

A 47-year-old man undergoing supervised alcohol detoxification developed severe liver disease after receiving small doses of acetaminophen. Autopsy revealed extensive hepatic necrosis. Proposed mechanisms for alcohol potentiation of acetaminophen hepatotoxicity are described. We feel acetaminophen should not be routinely used for patients with active alcoholism unless its safety can be established.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

A case of cholangiocarcinoma is described in a patient with underlying hepatic lithiasis and cholangitis. The possible pathogenesis of cholangiocarcinomas is discussed and the importance of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography in the diagnosis of this malignancy is emphasized.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Acute pulmonary edema appeared 3 or more days after the onset of acute pancreatitis in 7 patients, an approximate incidence of 8%. The severity of pancreatitis in these patients was characterized by massive requirements for intravenous colloid and by marked hypocalcemia. In addition, at least 5 of the 7 patients had very high serum levels of triglycerides at the time of hospital admission. Hemodynamic studies during pulmonary edema showed normal central venous pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, and pulmonary vascular resistance. Cardiac index was appropriately elevated. Respiratory treatment, consisting of endotracheal intubation and controlled ventilation with PEEP, was successful in allowing reversal of the pulmonary injury and recovery of respiratory function within 1-2 weeks in all cases. Two patients died later from pancreatic abscesses. The findings indicate that a distinct form of pulmonary injury may occur in acute pancreatitis, characterized by loss of integrity of the alveolar-capilllary membrane, leading to pulmonary edema. The mechanism of injury is not known but may be caused by circulating free fatty acids, phospholipase A, or vasoactive substances. The pulmonary membrane lesion appears to heal during the period of intensive respiratory support.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Variables of calcium metabolism were measured in 11 patients with clearly documented acute pancreatitis. Total and ionized calcium levels were either low or in the low-normal range as were phosphorus and total magnesium levels. Parathyroid hormone levels were high, and there was a significant inverse correlation with ionized calcium. Gastrin levels were normal, calcitonin values were uniformly below the detection limit of the assay, and pancreatic glucagon levels were elevated. The hypocalcemia of acute pancreatitis was probably not caused by abnormalities of glucagon, calcitonin, or gastrin secretion. Furthermore, parathyroid hormone secretion was apparently not impaired. Hypomagnesemia possibly played a minor role. This study suggests that the hypocalcemia of acute pancreatitis is secondary to extraskeletal calcium sequestration or an as yet unidentified defect of bone metabolism, or both.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

In 6 of 7 patients with acute pancreatitis and hyperlipemia, inhibition of serum amylase activity was detected by dilution of the serum before assaying for amylase and by correcting for tthe dilution factor. In 4 patients the inhibition phenomenon disappeared within the first few days of hospitalization as the elevated serum triglycerides fell. However, in 2 others there was no relation between triglyceride level and amylase inhibition. Removal of the excess serum lipids by ultracentrifugation did not eliminate the inhibition of amylase activity. Inhibition of amylase activity also occurred in the urine of these patients. No amylase inhibition was demonstrable in lipemic serum from patients without pancreatitis or in pancreatitis serum to which excess lipids were added. The data suggest the presence of a circulating inhibitor of amylase, distinct from the elevated serum lipids, in the serum and urine of patients with acute pancreatitis associated with hyperlipemia. The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis in the patient with abdominal pain and lactescent serum can be facilitated by correcting the serum amylase activity by dilution.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

It is often difficult to confirm a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis in the presence of hyperlipemic serum because the serum amylase and lipase and the urinary amylase are frequently normal. We were able to substantiate the diagnosis of pancreatitis in seven patients with hypertriglyceridemia (greater than 1200 mg/100 ml) by the use of the simple amylase/creatinine clearance ratio and by the serial dilution of hyperlipemic serum. The amylase/creatinine clearance ration in the hyperlipemic pancreatitis patients (10.0%) was significantly (P GREATER THAN 0.001) higher than in normal patients (3.1%) and essentially the same as in nonlipemic pancreatitis patients (9.2%). The calculated serum amylase activity after serial dilution of the serum showed up to a tenfold increase in hyperlipemic pancreatitis, with no significant increase in normal controls, hyperlipemic controls, and nonlipemic pancreatitis.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Thirty-four patients with abdominal pain, tenderness, and hyperamylasemia suggesting acute pancreatitis were studied prospectively to elucidate the relationship between peptic ulcer disease and pancreatitis. Confirming evidence of pancreatitis and/or ulcer was obtained either at laparotomy of by upper gastrointestinal roentgenograms. The presence or absence of pancreatitis was substantiated by measurement of the amylase/creatinine clearance ratio, which is significantly higher (p less than 0.001) in patients with acute pancreatitis (9.3 plus or minus 0.9), than in patients without pancreatitis (3.1 plus or minus 0.2). Nine of the 34 patients were found to have gastric or duodenal ulcers. However, seven of the nine, despite an elevated serum amylase, had no sign of pancreatitis at surgery, on radiological examination, or by elevation of the amylase/creatinine clearance ratio (3.1 plus or minus 0.4). It is suggested that hyperamylasemia associated with peptic ulcer disease is most often not indicative of acute pancreatitis and that treatment is most appropriately directed at the ulcer.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)