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Autoimmune pancreatitis in young patients
Terumi Kamisawa1, Tokio Wakabayashi, Norio Sawabu
1Department of Internal Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. kamisawa@cick.jp
Goals:
To examine whether there is a difference in the autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) seen in young and elderly patients.
Background:
AIP has a preponderance for elderly males, although the reason is unknown.
Study:
A total of 64 patients with AIP were divided into a young (<40 y old) group and a middle-aged or elderly group (> or =40 y old) according to the age at diagnosis. The clinical findings of each group were compared.
Results:
The young group consisted of 6 patients (3 men, 3 women) with a mean age of 33.0 (range, 28 to 37) years. In the middle-aged or elderly group, there were 58 patients with a mean age of 66.4 (range, 46 to 83) years; males predominated (79%). Abdominal pain as the presenting symptom was significantly more frequent in the young group than in the middle-aged or elderly group (100% vs. 43%, P<0.05). Obstructive jaundice was detected in only 17% (1/6) of patients in the young group compared with 59% (34/58) of patients in the middle-aged or elderly group. Serum amylase elevations were detected more frequently in the young group than in the middle-aged or elderly group (83% vs. 40%, P<0.05). One young patient also had ulcerative colitis.
Conclusions:
Although rare in Japan, young patients with AIP show different clinical features from middle-aged or elderly patients with AIP; young patients are more likely to have abdominal pain and serum amylase elevations.
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