Acute pancreatitis and infection with the human immunodeficiency virus

Background. Retrospective study of the etiology and evolution of 40 episodes of acute pancreatitis in 28 patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Results. AIDS criteria were met by 89.3% of patients. The likely etiology was an opportunist infection in 32.5% of episodes, drug use in 22.5%, and biliary lithiasis in 5%. AP secondary to AIDS-associated cholangitis occurred in 35.7% of episodes. Sixty percent of episodes were severe in nature, The mortality rate reached 30%. Conclusions. AP in HIV infected patients: a) is more frequent in the advanced stages of disease; b) opportunistic infections and drugs are the most frequent causes in our environment; c) in a third of patients it is probably secondary to AIDS associated cholangitis; d) biliary lithiasis seems to be less common than in the general population, and e) it is associated with a high severity and mortality.