Acute pancreatitis and hyperamylasemia in renal homograft recipients.

In a series of 301 renal homograft recipi· ents, 17 (5.6%) had acute pancreatitis at some time after transplantation. Eleven of these patients died, for a mortality of 64.7%. In each instance, pancreatitis was a major factor in a complex chain of lethal events to which immunosuppression invariably con· tributed. An additional 43 patients (14.3%) developed asymptomatic hyperamylasemia after transplantation and, undoubtedly, . some of these recipients also had pan· creatitis. The factors causing pancreatitis in the renal transplantation patient include uremia, hyperparathyroidism, pancreatic in· jury by drugs, infections resulting from chronic immunosuppression, gallstones, and operative trauma to the pancreas. In cases of preexisting pancreatitis, transplantation is not necessarily precluded, but efforts should be made to find a specific cause of the pancreatitis and take corrective mea· sures, such as biliary tract surgery or para· thyroi.dectomy if indicated, in advance of transplantation.