Medical image of the week: hypertriglyceridemia-induced pancreatitis

Abstract

A 38 year old man presented with diffuse abdominal pain and was found to have pancreatitis on abdominal CT image (Figure 1, Panel A). His triglyceride level was 4573 mg/dL and his serum red top tube was visibly lipemic (Figure 1, Panel B). He underwent one cycle of plasmapheresis and his triglyceride level decreased to below 500mg/dL.

Keywords

• hypertriglyceridemia
• pancreatitis
• abdominal pain