Abstract
In the United Kingdom about half the attacks of acute pancreatitis are related to gallstones and about one-quarter to alcohol consumption (Table 1). Other aetiological agents have been reviewed elsewhere (Tables 2 and 3). This chapter is concerned with the search for an aetiology in patients in whom initial assessment has shown no evidence of gallstones and no excessive alcohol consumption (non-gallstone non-alcohol related (NGNA) pancreatitis). Patients with recurrent NGNA pancreatitis deserve particularly thorough investigation to forestall further sttacks, although these patients have a similar distribution of aetiology to primary cases (Table 4).
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© 1991 Springer-Verlag London Limited
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Johnson, C.D. (1991). “Idiopathic” Pancreatitis: Do We Need to Know the Cause?. In: Johnson, C.D., Imrie, C.W. (eds) Pancreatic Disease. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3356-8_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3356-8_27
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-3358-2
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