The different courses of early- and late-onset idiopathic and alcoholic chronic pancreatitis

On the basis of 263 male cases of primary chronic pancreatitis from western France, the following factors were analyzed: (1) distribution of the cases according to geological characteristics; (2) data on age, occupation, history, and especially the dietary habits of these patients, stressing the frequency of obesity, excessive food intake, and alcoholism and (3) definition of the course of the disease. The following points were examined: (1) the general profile of pain in the evolution over 15 years; (2) study of some courses which the disease may take (remission of clinical cure, complications, cirrhosis, death); (3) the patient’s condition during the 15 years of illness (weight, disturbance of carbohydrate metabolism, ability to work), and (4) factors influencing the course of the disease (age, pancreatic calcification, alcohol intake, and surgery).