Acute pancreatitis prevalence in children with cystic fibrosis and PIP score prediction applicability

Abstract

One of the affected organs in cystic fibrosis (CF) is the pancreas, mainly translated into exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Although rare, acute pancreatitis (AP) has been described, mostly in pancreatic sufficient patients. Objectives. Estimating AP prevalence in CF pediatric population of the I.N.S.M.C. „Alessandrescu Rusescu” CF centre. Material and methods. 5 year retrospective study (2011-2016) including INSMC CF centre pediatric population aged 3-18 years. PA diagnosis was established on the presence of minimum 2 criteria between: characteristic abdominal pain, x3 normal value for age elevation of amylase/lipase, medical imaging evaluation suggestive for AP. Patients were evaluated with different criteria including PIP score of predicting AP risk. Outcomes. 48 patients were included with a slight female predominance (54%). 3 of them presented diagnostic criteria for AP (6,25%), all heaving pancreatic insufficiency and high PIP score (low risk of developing AP); 2 of them have low compliance with pancreatic enzymes substitution therapy; one of them presented recurrent episodes of AP. Conclusions. AP is a rare CF complication. It can be easily missed due to a large number of abdominal pain and emesis causes in CF patients. Although it is usually associated with pancreatic sufficiency, all our patients were pancreatic insufficient.

Keywords

• cystic fibrosis
• acute pancreatitis
• pip score