A 16-year trend of etiology in acute pancreatitis: The increasing proportion of hypertriglyceridemia-associated acute pancreatitis and its adverse effect on prognosis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an acute inflammation of the pancreas, which caused increasing global health and economic burden. Longitudinal trends of disease etiology and its influence on prognosis remains unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze the trend of etiology in moderately severe acute pancreatitis (MSAP) and severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and to evaluate the influence of the changing pattern of etiology. A 16-year cohort study was undertaken in a tertiary hospital. Patients who presented with MSAP or SAP from January 2001 to December 2016 were continuously enrolled. Demographic data, clinical manifestations, treatment strategy, and prognosis were recorded and verified. A total of 475 patients were included, among whom 173 (36.4%) had gallstone-associated pancreatitis and 108 (22.7%) had hypertriglyceridemia (HTG)-associated pancreatitis. The annual admission for MSAP and SAP rose steadily over the 16-year period (r = 0.907, P