[Descriptive analysis about a group of patients with recurrent acute pancreatitis]. / Análisis descriptivo de un grupo de enfermos con pancreatitis aguda recidivante.

BACKGROUND: Recurrent acute pancreatitis (RAP) represents a diagnostic and treatment challenge. Although it's real frequency is difficult to establish some works have reported 25-60% prevalence. In most, the etiology is recurrent biliary stones untreated or consumption of alcohol. The information we have about the RAP in our midst is scarce. AIM: To review the clinical characteristics and follow-up of a group of patients with RAP. METHODS: Clinical charts of all patients with AP admitted to our Institute from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2005 were reviewed. The diagnosis of RAP was established when two o more episodes of AP were documented. In each case clinical, biochemical, imaging, treatment and follow-up until the last visit to our hospital was analyzed. RESULTS: The diagnosis of AP was established in 406 patients. Forty of them had RAP (9.8%). Mean age was 32 years old (13-63). The majority was male (72.5%). A mean of 3.5 episodes of AP was presented for each subject (2-14). High levels of triglycerides (n = 15), alcoholism (n = 11) and gallstones (n = 8) were the most frequent cause of RAP. In some cases more than one factor was presented. In 5 of the 15 subjects with RAP due to hypertriglyceridemia other causes of AP were identified (two alcohol consumption,two idiopathic chronic pancreatitis and one gallstone disease). In three patients with RAP supposedly secondary to alcohol, gallstone disease was diagnosed during the follow-up. All of them were operated on. One has had four events of AP after the cholecistectomy. Four of the 8 subjects submitted to cholecistectomy for RAP associated to gallstone disease have had new episodes of AP: 2 for triglycerides and in two a chronic pancreatitis was diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound or MRI. Two patients died (5%). CONCLUSIONS: This series represents probably the first analysis that exists on PAR in Mexico. The frequency found was 9% and the most common causes were hypertriglyceridemia, chronic alcohol consumption and gallstones.

Ultrastructural and immunocytochemical study of a primary gastrinoma of the liver.

A primary hepatic gastrinoma found in a 13-year-old boy was studied by light microscopy, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, and immunoelectron microscopy. Results were consistent with a neuroendocrine neoplasm with abundant gastrin-immunoreactive cells. Unlike all previously reported cases of primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors, which have been endocrinologically asymptomatic, the patient had a Zollinger-Ellison syndrome apparently cured by surgical resection of the tumor.

[Pancreatic phlegmon: a potentially fatal form of acute pancreatitis]. / Flemón pancreático: una forma potencialmente fatal de pancreatitis aguda.

AIM: To report the clinical characteristics of a group of patients with pancreatic phlegmon (PF) seen at the Instituto Nacional de la Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Mexico City. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed all the cases of acute pancreatitis hospitalized from January 1981 to December 1989. The diagnosis of pancreatic phlegmon was established when the CT scan showed a solid mass in the pancreas and peripancreatic region with more than 20 Hounsfield units without liquid collections or a fibrous capsule. We analyzed clinical, biochemical, and radiological data. RESULTS: Acute pancreatitis was diagnosed in 132 patients. In 14 a pancreatic phlegmon was observed (10.6%). Twelve were men; the mean age was 44.7 years. In six cases acute pancreatitis was secondary to alcohol abuse and in four to gallstones. Abdominal pain was present in all patients. Ten had leucocitosis and seven fever and/or jaundice. An abdominal mass was detected in three cases. The severity of pancreatitis was graded according to our institutional criteria as mild (0-2 signs) or severe (3-5 signs). In 10 patients AP was graded as mild: no mortality was observed in this group but three presented complications (two liquid collections and one an abscess). The four patients with severe pancreatitis presented complications and three died (one abscess, two multiorgan failure). Five patients were operated on. In three an abscess was drained. CONCLUSIONS: Pancreatic phlegmon is a potentially severe form of AP. All patients who died presented, in addition to PF, clinical criteria of severe pancreatitis.

[Dissolution of pancreatic calcifications with oral citrates in a woman with chronic idiopathic pancreatitis]. / Disolución de calcificaciones pancreáticas con citratos por vía oral en una mujer con pancreatitis crónica idiopática.

Pain control is one of the most important objectives in the medical treatment of patients with chronic calcifying pancreatitis (CCP). It is generally accepted that pain in CCP is secondary to the obstruction of the pancreatic duct by calcifications, protein plugs and stenotic areas. Experimental studies have shown that calculi and protein plugs are soluble in citrates. We report here the case of a young non alcoholic woman with idiopathic CCP who after a pancreatojejunostomy developed again pain and pancreatic calcifications which were dissolved with oral citrates. The case confirms previous observations and illustrates the potential use of citrates in subjects with CCP.

[4 cases of annular pancreas at the Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición Salvador Zubirán]. / Cuatro casos de páncreas anular en el Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición Salvador Zubirán.

Annular pancreas (AP) is a rare congenital anomaly due to malrotation of the pancreatic ventral yolk. Although it has been described in young and middle age adults it predominates in children. Its clinical picture is that of duodenal obstruction or acute pancreatitis episodes. In this paper we report four cases of AP that were seen at the Instituto Nacional de la Nutricion Salvador Zubiran in Mexico City. Three were females and three were less than twenty years old. In one case the diagnosis was established at birth and the operation done in another hospital. In another patient a diagnosis of pyloric hypertrophy was made and a pyloroplasty was performed. This young man was admitted in our hospital because of abdominal pain and hyperamylasemia. An eighty four year old woman was seen due to abdominal pain, nausea and vomit. In all cases the diagnosis of AP was carried out with radiological studies and confirmed by laparotomy. Surgical procedures consisted of duodenal-duodenal anastomosis in two, sphincteroplasty in one, and gastrojejunoanastomosis in the other. Two patients are asymptomatic, one died in the postoperative period, and one was lost for follow up. These four cases represent all the experience of our institute and correspond to one case in 36,735 admissions.

[Pancreatic gas with no evidence of abscess. Report of 2 cases]. / Gas en lecho pancreático sin evidencia de absceso. Informe de dos casos.

Intrapancreatic air has been considered a reliable sign of pancreatic abscess (PA), although it can also be associated with other pancreatic diseases. We report here the clinical outcome of two patients with acute pancreatitis with gas in the retrogastric region suggestive of an abscess. Both patients exhibited a good clinical course with no evidence of sepsis. They were treated with analgesics and one of them with antibiotics. Control CT scans showed disappearance of liquid collections and intrapancreatic gas. In one case an endoscopy disclosed a gastric ulcer with changes suggesting a pancreatic fistula. This report shows that intrapancreatic air may mimic PA in cases with acute pancreatitis without septic complications.

[Transduodenal sphincteroplasty]. / Esfinteroplastia transduodenal.

Transduodenal sphincteroplasty is a surgical procedure indicated for treatment and prophylaxis of biliary tract stones and Oddi's sphincter fibrosis. This report analyzes the experience in Mexico City at Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición "Salvador Zubirán", in the last 35 years. We report the indications, morbidity and mortality rates, risk factors which have influence in the final outcome, as well as the long term effectivity. We used the chi-square analysis for measuring this correlation. Sphincteroplasty was effective for long term biliary permeability in 93%. Mortality rate was 4.3% and we had complications in 25.9%. In 150 biopsies, we found histological abnormalities in 90%. Presence of cholangitis was a risk factor for mortality, and serum albumin less than 3 g/dl for developing biliar or duodenal fistulas (p less than 0.02). Patients with chronic pancreatic disease in which sphincteroplasty was performed had poor outcome, compared with patients who had only biliary tract stones or Oddi's sphincter fibrosis. We concluded that transduodenal sphincteroplasty is an effective surgical procedure which supplies long term biliary tract permeability with a real present therapeutic value.

[Sphincteroplasty of the minor papilla in a female patient with pancreas divisum]. / Esfinteroplastia de la papila menor en una enferma con páncreas divisum.

We report the case of a 30 year old woman with recurrent episodes of acute pancreatitis secondary to pancreas divisum. The diagnosis was established 18 years after the initiation of her symptomatology. She denied a family history of pancreatic disease and had no risk factors in her personal history. Diagnosis was confirmed by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. She was surgically treated by means of a sphincteroplasty of the minor papillae with excellent results. After three years of follow-up, the patient remains asymptomatic.

[Surgical treatment of insulinoma. Experience at the Salvador Zubiran National Nutrition Institute]. / Tratamiento quirúrgico del insulinoma. Experiencia en el Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición "Salvador Zubirán".

Eighteen cases of insulinoma treated at the Instituto Nacional de la Nutricion in Mexico City are presented. The cases were operated on between 1959 and 1988, and include 10 women and 8 men with a mean age of 38. The duration of symptoms ranged between 4 and 96 months with a median of 27; 78% of the patients had neuropsychiatric symptoms, 61% seizures, and 55% loss of consciousness. One of the patients had evidence of type I multiple endocrine neoplasia. Diagnosis was established in all the patients with the demonstration of Whipple's triad and also with an elevated insulin determination in the last nine patients. In six cases the insulinoma was enucleated; in two a Whipple procedure was performed; in nine a distal pancreatectomy and in the remaining patient only resection of hepatic metastases; 67% of the tumors were diagnosed as benign solitary adenomas, 16.5% as carcinomas and the same number as hyperplasia. Operative mortality was 5.5%, and morbidity 44%. The three carcinomas survived 6, 8 and 36 months. Disappearance of the hypoglycemic symptoms was obtained in 93% of the cases of adenoma and hyperplasia.