COVID-19 Associated Acute Pancreatitis: A Case Series from India.

INTRODUCTION: Initially, COVID-19 was typically concerned with respiratory symptoms and had a mild and asymptomatic to critical clinical course. Over time, many atypical presentations related to cardiac, hepatic, gastrointestinal, renal, musculoskeletal, and neurological features have been reported in COVID-19. CASE PRESENTATION: We present three confirmed cases of COVID-19 who developed acute pancreatitis without any other obvious discernible cause. One middle-aged patient of 48-years old male presented with severe abdominal pain with mild symptoms, COVID-19, later diagnosed as acute pancreatitis with a positive outcome. Another 40-year-old male, hospitalized due to moderate COVID-19, developed acute pancreatitis and managed successfully. The third patient of 58 years old with control diabetes and severe COVID-19 developed acute necrotizing pancreatitis. Unfortunately, he succumbed due to multiorgan failure while on the mechanical ventilator. CONCLUSION: Acute pancreatitis is uncommon in COVID-19. Although, it should be kept as a high index clinical suspicion if abdominal pain is reported. Early diagnosis and prompt management can significantly impact the patient's outcome.

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection-Attributed Acute Pancreatitis: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread widely across the world inducing a global health crisis. Predominant signs of infection involve respiratory symptoms such as cough and dyspnea. Investigation into COVID-19 infection-associated gastrointestinal symptoms remains fluid. COVID-19-induced acute pancreatitis has been recorded from greater than 20 countries at this time. Herein, we submit a case of COVID-19-attributed acute pancreatitis, as well as a comprehensive assessment of previously reported cases of COVID-19-attributed acute pancreatitis.

A Case Report on Acute Pancreatitis in a Patient With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pneumonia.

With the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been an explosion of scientific literature on the clinical manifestations and pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Gastrointestinal symptoms occur in 15-20% of COVID-19 patients; however, there have not been many case reports on acute pancreatitis in COVID-19 patients. The expression of ACE-2 ([angiotensin-converting enzyme 2] the host receptor for SARS-CoV-2) is very high in the pancreas, which might be a contributing factor, but the high expression is mainly localized to endocrine pancreas. This case report describes a case of a 25-year-old Indian female with COVID-19 with acute pancreatitis in the absence of any other known risk factors for pancreatitis.

Development of pancreatic injuries in the course of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: To investigate the clinical and laboratory characteristics of the cases with high lipase levels in the course of COVID-19. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Hospital records of all cases, where lipase levels were measured, and the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test due to SARS-CoV-2 was found positive, were retrospectively investigated. Of 127 COVID-19 patients tested for lipase, 20 (15.7%) had serum lipase levels above the upper laboratory limit. The patient group with the "high lipase level" was created from these subjects, and the rest constituted the "control" group. RESULTS: While body mass index (BMI) levels were higher in the high lipase group, (p=0.014), the number of those with pre-existing diabetes mellitus (DM) was also found higher in the high lipase group than the controls (p=0.002). The history of DM was detected to increase the risk of developing high lipase level 4.63 times higher. Only two patients were diagnosed with acute pancreatitis (AP). While oxygen saturations on admission (p=0.019) and discharge (p=0.011) were lower in the high lipase group than the controls, amylase (p<0.001), C-reactive protein (CRP) (p=0.002) and D-dimer (p=0.004) levels were found higher. In addition, more patients required the treatment in intensive care unit in the high lipase group, compared to the controls (p=0.027). Accordingly, time of hospital stay became also prolonged (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Pancreatic injuries or even AP may develop during SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in those with pre-existing DM. Monitoring of pancreatic enzymes is important in COVID-19 patients, especially with pre-existing DM.

Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) associated with severe acute pancreatitis: Case report on three family members.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Abdominal pain is one of the known symptoms associated with coronavirus disease 2019. Little is known about the development of acute pancreatitis as a complication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. This case report describes the presentation of acute pancreatitis in two of three family members with severe COVID-19 infection. METHODS: Data were collected from three family members admitted with COVID-19 to the intensive care unit in March 2020. This study was reviewed and approved by the local data and ethics committee (31-1521-253). RESULTS: Two of the three family members were diagnosed with acute pancreatitis associated with SARS-CoV-2. Other causes of acute pancreatitis were excluded for both patients (including alcohol, biliary obstruction/gall stones, drugs, trauma, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercalcemia, and hypotension). CONCLUSIONS: These cases highlight acute pancreatitis as a complication associated with COVID-19 and underlines the importance of measuring pancreas-specific plasma amylase in patients with COVID-19 and abdominal pain.