[Clinical and epidemiological study of calcifying chronic pancreatitis in Goiânia, GO, Brazil]

The authors studied, prospectively, 102 cases of calcifying chronic pancreatitis in Goiânia, GO, Brazil, from 1985 to 1996. Alcohol was the major cause of calcifying chronic pancreatitis, responsible for 94.1% of the cases. In others 5.9% of the cases, not associated with alcohol, the etiologic diagnosis could not be confirmed. The average age of the patients was 39.8 +/- 9.8 years, and the first symptoms appeared with the average age of male sex in the proportion of 9.2/1. The average of alcoholic beverage ingested was 258 +/- 187.1 g/day of ethanol through an average period of 17.5 +/- years. The major complications found were: chronic diarrhea (malabsorption), pleural effusion, cysts, diabetes mellitus, jaundice and digestive hemorrhage. This study, when compared to others from other Brazilian cities, suggests that there are differences in the natural history of calcifying chronic pancreatitis among several regions of Brazil.