ABSTRACT
Abstract Acute pancreatitis is a rare condition in pregnancy, associated with a high mortality rate. Hypertriglyceridemia represents its second most common cause.We present the case of a 38-year-old woman in the 24th week of gestation with a history of hypertriglyceridemia and recurrent episodes of pancreatitis. She was admitted to our hospital with acute pancreatitis due to severe hypertriglyceridemia. She was stabilized and treated with fibrates. Despite her favorable clinical course, she developed a second episode of acute pancreatitis complicated by multi-organ dysfunction and pancreatic necrosis, requiring a necrosectomy. The pregnancy was ended by cesarean section, after which three plasmapheresis sessions were performed. She is currently asymptomatic with stable triglyceride levels. Acute pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in pregnant women, associated with serious maternal and fetal complications. When primary hypertriglyceridemia is suspected, such as familial chylomicronemia syndrome, the most important objective is preventing the onset of pancreatitis.
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Pregnancy , Adult , Pregnancy Complications/diagnosis , Prenatal Diagnosis , Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing/diagnosis , Hyperlipoproteinemia Type I/diagnosis , Pregnancy Complications/diagnostic imaging , APACHE , Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing/complications , Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing/diagnostic imaging , Diagnosis, Differential , Hyperlipoproteinemia Type I/complications , Hyperlipoproteinemia Type I/diagnostic imagingABSTRACT
ABSTRACT PURPOSE: To investigate the severity of pancreatitis in lipoprotein lipase (LPL)-deficient hypertriglyceridaemic (HTG) heterozygous mice and to establish an experimental animal model for HTG pancreatitis study. METHODS: LPL-deficient HTG heterozygous mice were rescued by somatic gene transfer and mated with wild-type mice. The plasma amylase, triglyceride, and pathologic changes in the pancreas of the LPL-deficient HTG heterozygous mice were compared with those of wild-type mice to assess the severity of pancreatitis. In addition, acute pancreatitis (AP) was induced by caerulein (50 µg/kg) for further assessment. RESULTS: The levels of plasma amylase and triglyceride were significantly higher in the LPL-deficient HTG heterozygous mice. According to the pancreatic histopathologic scores, the LPL-deficient HTG heterozygous mice showed more severe pathologic damage than the wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS: Lipoprotein lipase deficient heterozygous mice developed severe caerulein-induced pancreatitis. In addition, their high triglyceride levels were stable. Therefore, LPL-deficient HTG heterozygous mice are a useful experimental model for studying HTG pancreatitis.
Subject(s)
Animals , Female , Pancreatitis/etiology , Hypertriglyceridemia/complications , Hyperlipoproteinemia Type I/complications , Pancreatitis/pathology , Time Factors , Triglycerides/blood , Severity of Illness Index , Acute Disease , Disease Models, Animal , Heterozygote , Amylases/blood , Hyperlipoproteinemia Type I/genetics , Mice, Inbred C57BLABSTRACT
Familial chylomicronemia syndrome is a group of rare genetic disorders characterized by deficient activity of an enzyme lipoprotein lipase or apo-protein C-II deficiency. In this paper we present an infant with massive hyperchylomicronemia and severe pancreatitis. Exchange transfusion for controlling hypertriglyceridemia and pancreatitis led to an increase in hyperviscosity which resulted in encephalopathy.