Patients with COVID-19 develop a distinct subset of pancreatitis hallmarked by duodenal and periduodenal inflammation, according to a recent case series.
Although all five patients presented with multiple predictive markers of severe pancreatitis, the subsequent clinical pathway “was much more benign than anticipated,” reported lead author Peter Szatmary, MB, BChir, PhD, of the University of Liverpool (England) and colleagues. Still, they noted prolonged hospital stays because of persistent inflammation and poor diabetic control.
“As the global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 continues, nuances of the disease it precipitates in humans continue to emerge,” the investigators wrote in Gastroenterology. “[A] group from Wuhan reported a series of 9 patients with purported pancreatic injury in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but did not provide robust evidence for pancreatitis relying on mild hyperamylasemia alone.”
For the present series, Dr. Szatmary and colleagues restricted diagnosis of pancreatitis to international consensus guidelines, which require “abdominal pain consistent with pancreatitis, serum amylase/lipase greater than three times the upper limit of normal, and characteristic findings on cross-sectional imaging.”
From middle of March to late April, the investigators identified 35 patients with acute pancreatitis at Royal Liverpool (England) University Hospital, 25 of whom tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, which resulted in study exclusion. An additional five patients were excluded from the series as another etiology for pancreatitis was clearly present, such as gallstones.
“The remaining 5 patients, all with SARS-CoV-2, presented atypically yet homogenously with a distinct metabolic-pancreatitis phenotype,” the investigators wrote.
All five patients were obese or overweight young men with a median body mass index of 30 kg/m2 and age of 42 years. On presentation, all patients had elevated, but nondiagnostic, levels of amylase (median, 149 U/L). Contrast-enhanced abdominal CT revealed moderate to severe hepatic steatosis (less than 104 HU), which rapidly regressed within a week among patients who underwent repeat imaging.
“The pattern of pancreatic inflammation was similarly unusual in these patients,” the investigators wrote, going on to describe “mild pancreatic edema without significant pancreatic or peripancreatic necrosis, with distinct duodenal/periduodenal inflammation involving the second and third part of the duodenum.”
According to Dr. Szatmary and colleagues, these findings were “accompanied by a profound systemic inflammatory response,” including 1-2 criteria for systemic inflammatory response syndrome that increased to 2-4 criteria within 48 hours. During hospitalization, patients also exhibited a “dramatic elevation” of C-reactive protein, from a median of 31 mg/L upon admission to 485 mg/L within 48 hours.
Although these markers predicted severe disease, all cases followed a clinical course similar to “a typical attack of moderate pancreatitis,” the investigators wrote.
All patients were treated with IV fluids, four out of five received broad-spectrum IV antibiotics for pneumonitis, three out of five received fibrate and/or insulin therapy, and two out of five received pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy. No patients required corticosteroids, organ support, or respiratory support beyond low-flow oxygen. Median hospital stay was 14 days.
“We ... propose the combination of male sex, abdominal pain, metabolic stress, and CT-findings of predominantly pancreatico-duodenal inflammation with steatosis represent a distinct subset of pancreatitis in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2,” the investigators wrote.
They suggested that the endocrine pancreas may be “particularly vulnerable to this infection,” citing prolonged hospital stays because of poor diabetic control.
“[T]ransient dyslipidemias and impaired glucose tolerance may be common in SARS-CoV-2 patients and warrant further investigation,” they concluded.
Oscar J. Hines, MD, chief of the division of general surgery at UCLA Medical Center and leader in the field of pancreatitis management, said that the case series has a limited impact.
“The findings are unlikely to change practice and only call attention for physicians to the possibility of pancreatitis in COVID-positive patients,” Dr. Hines said.
The investigators reported grants from NIHR, Wellcome Trust, Mylan, and others.
SOURCE: Szatmary P et al. Gastroenterology. 2020 Jun 1. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2020.05.069.