The prognosis of alcohol-induced calcific pancreatitis

A consecutive personal series of 314 patients with alcohol-induced calcific pancreatitis were admitted to a long-term follow-up study between 1959 and 1979. The patients were subdivided into four arbitrary groups according to the date of entry into study, and the mortality rate and survivor status were determined for each of these groups. Adjusted mortality rates increased progressively with the duration of follow-up, from 11% in the 1976-1979 to 73% in the 1959-1969 group. Pancreatic insufficiency dominated in patients followed up for 10 - 20 years, and pain was more prominent in the more recent follow-up groups. The survivor status in Whites was better than in Blacks, but the mortality rates were comparable. The occurrence of pain in patients who continued to drink was significantly less in the 10 - 20 year follow-up group than in those followed up for a shorter period of time.