Fatal pancreatitis associated with systemic amyloidosis in a rheumatoid arthritis patient.

Abstract

We report here a case of severe acute pancreatitis associated with systemic AA amyloidosis in a 69-year-old rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient. AA amyloid deposition was detected on the walls of small pancreatic arteries and arterioles. The acute pancreatitis was resistant to various interventions, and acute necrotizing pancreatitis and multiple organ failure developed. Although AA amyloidosis in RA patients is rarely complicated with acute pancreatitis, acute pancreatitis in such cases could be severe and intractable and might result in a fatal outcome.