Acute pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia. Literature Review and an interesting clinical case

Abstract

Acute pancreatitis is a reversible inflammatory process. Acute pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia is defined by the presence of high levels of triglycerides and/or milky plasma, in the absence of other etiological factors of pancreatitis. Alcohol and gallstones are the main causes of acute pancreatitis. In third place is hypertriglyceridemia, which causes 1%–38% of pancreatitis. Patients with hypertriglyceridemia have a 1.5% risk of developing pancreatitis. When these levels exceed 1,000 mg/dl, the risk rises to 20.2%. Below, the case of a 17-year-old female patient is presented, who comes to the emergency room with abdominal pain, with a history of type 1 diabetes mellitus, who is diagnosed with acute pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia. The emergency approach is described. A review of the literature is presented.