Acute pancreatitis secondary to hypercalcemia in a patient with primary hyperparathyroidism: An uncommon association

An uncommon cause of acute pancreatitis, primary hyperparathyroidism accounts for less than 1% of cases.

A 41-year-old male with acute pancreatitis and hypercalcemia is described in this case. Primary hyperparathyroidism was discovered during the work-up for hypercalcemia. During the first 24 hours after his hospitalization, the patient was monitored in the intensive care unit, and after a positive outcome, he was discharged.

Pancreatitis is a rare presentation of hyperparathyroidism. The first documented case of this association was by Erdheim in 1903 on a post-mortem study (2). Hyperparathyroidism is often only discovered after two or three episodes of recurrent pancreatitis (5), thankfully, in this case, the patient has been diagnosed from its first episode and eventually treated to prevent any other ones. hypercalcaemia leads to increase calcium in the pancreatic responsible for aggression of the pancreatic parenchyma and ducts, Other authors suggest that the pancreatic secretion in patients with hypercalcaemia is lower than normal, but the enzyme activity remains normal, resulting in the formation of protein plugs in the pancreatic ducts leading to their obstruction and self-digestion.

Hypercalcemia can cause acute pancreatitis. This report describes rare case of a patient with acute pancreatitis caused by hyperparathyroidism.