[Pulmonary damage in acute tryptic pancreatitis]

Pulmonary damage in acute tryptic pancreatitis is frequently a main contributory factor in death. Morphology shows a toxic pneumonosis with a course in stages. Various pathogenetic mechanisms may contribute towards its occurrence. Similar to the acute tryptic pancreatitis in the pancreas proper the pancreatitis-induced adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is probably not caused by a single enzyme or its reaction products but by a summation effect, i.e. the "concert of pancreatic enzymes".