Chronic pancreatitis. A prospective nationwide study of 1,086 subjects from India

Chronic pancreatitis is common in India. However, its risk factors are not clear. There is sparse data on the current prevalence of tropical pancreatitis in India. To undertake a prospective nationwide study of the risk factors and clinical profile of chronic pancreatitis. Thirty-two major centers from different regions of India contributed data on 1,086 patients to a common online website (www.ipans.org). Risk factors, clinical features complications and treatment of chronic pancreatitis. Of the 1,086 subjects, complete data on risk factors were available for 1,033 subjects. Idiopathic pancreatitis was the most common form of pancreatitis (n=622; 60.2%) and alcoholic chronic pancreatitis accounted for about a third of the cases (n=400; 38.7%); the rest (n=11; 1.1%) had rare risk factors. Smoking and cassava intake were documented in 292 (28.3%) and 189 (18.3%) subjects, respectively. Using well-defined criteria, only 39 (3.8%)cases could be labeled as 'tropical pancreatitis'. Pain occurred in 971 patients (94.0%). Four hundred and eighteen (40.5%) subjects had diabetes mellitus. Of alcohol consumers, alcoholism and female gender were independent risk factors for diabetes in subjects with chronic pancreatitis (OR=1.48, P=0.003; and OR=1.75, P