Acute Pancreatitis Is Associated with Mild-to-Moderate Hypertriglyceridemia

Severe hypertriglyceridemia is a cause of acute pancreatitis; increased risk for pancreatitis is thought to begin when triglycerides are in the range of 500 to 1000 mg/dL. In this prospective cohort study from Denmark, researchers examined whether lower triglyceride levels are associated with acute pancreatitis in nearly 117,000 adults (median age, 57).

During a mean follow-up of 6.7 years, 434 participants developed acute pancreatitis. The absolute rate of acute pancreatitis rose progressively from a baseline of 2.7 events per 10,000 person-years for triglyceride levels <89 mg/dL (1 mmol/L) to 12 events per 10,000 person-years for levels >443 mg/dL (5 mmol/L). The risk for acute pancreatitis associated with elevated triglyceride levels chan…