[Acute pancreatitis with hypertriglyceridemia--an underestimated disease?]

Hypertriglyceridemia is a rare, but since a long time well known etiology for acute pancreatitis. It could occure alone or coactive with other triggers like alcohlic excess. Nevertheless it found no approach to the current classifications and parameters of prognosis of the acute pancreatitis. We refer about two patients with hypertriglyceridemia and acute pancreatitis, whose initial disease was limited on the tail of the pancreas with just a circumscripted or--in the other case--no necrosis. However, in both cases and although a consequent treatment started immediately, a serious process developed including a life-threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome in one case, which necessitated an extracorporal membrane oxygenation.