Microscopic colitis patients prone to higher risk of acute pancreatitis

It is already known that there is an association between gastrointestinal diseases and acute pancreatitis. There is a lack of data regarding acute pancreatitis risk in microscopic colitis.

Considering this background, researchers did a matched cohort study in 12,140 patients with biopsy-verified MC (diagnosed in 2003-2017), 57,806 matched reference individuals, and 12,781 siblings without MC with follow-up until 2021.

They obtained data from all of Sweden's regional pathology registers through the ESPRESSO cohort.

The study results could be summarised as follows:

• The duration of the mean follow-up was 9.9 years.
• The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was established in 146 MC patients and 437 reference individuals with values of 127.8 vs 80.1 per 100,000 person-years.
• There was a positive association between MC and acute non-gallstone-related pancreatitis.
• There was no association with acute gallstone-related pancreatitis.

They said that, Based on our study's results, we found an elevated risk of acute pancreatitis for MC patients with a follow-up exceeding ten years.

They acknowledged, "The clinicians should have a low threshold for evaluating acute pancreatitis in patients with MC. It is important consideration that patients should receive advice and care to reduce acute pancreatitis risk.

Further reading:

Bergman, David MD, PhD1,a; Roelstraete, Bjorn PhD1; Olén, Ola MD, PhD2-4; Lindkvist, Björn MD, PhD5; Ludvigsson, Jonas F MD, PhD1,6-7. Microscopic colitis and risk of incident acute pancreatitis: A nationwide population-based matched cohort study. The American Journal of Gastroenterology ():10.14309/ajg.0000000000002318, May 12, 2023. | DOI: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000002318