The clinical characteristics of 53 patients with chronic pancreatitis were analyzed retrospectively to investigate the clinical aspects of chronic pancreatitis in Korea.
Alcohol was the most important cause of chronic pancreatitis (51%). In 30% of the patients the causes were not evident.
The most common symptoms were abdominal pain (93%) and weight loss (77%).
In 12 of the 53 pationts, chronic pancreatitis could be dignosed only by ERCP.
The most common complications were diabetwes mellitus (30%). Followed by pseudocyst (28%) and biliary tract obstruction (23%).
The most common cause of surgical operations was the inability to differentiate chronic pancreatitis from pancreatic cancer with the conventional diagnostic tools including radiologic studies.
In the patients with alcohlic chronic pancreatitis, males occupied the larger proportion, weight loss was more severe, and the degree of hyperbilirubinemia was less than in the patients with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis. Although the patients
with
idiopathic calcifications were older than the patients without pancreatic calcifications, there was no difference in clinical characteristics between calcific and noncalcific chronic pancreatitis except the mean age.
In conclusion, alcohol is the most important cause of chronic pancreatitis in Korea and the ERCP is very useful for diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, but the level of serum amylase activity is not.
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