Influence of advanced age and related comorbidity on the course and outcome of acute XXXX .

@entity1 @entity788 @entity149 @entity39
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Aging process and comorbidity have been held to influence the course and outcome of acute @entity788 in elderly @entity1 . The aim of the present study was to investigate this issue in a large series of @entity1 > or = 70 years of age suffering from acute @entity788 . @entity1 AND METHODS: A retrospectively study was carried out on 439 @entity1 with a first episode of AP. The @entity1 were divided into two age groups: < or = 69 years (n = 340) and > or = 70 years (n = 99). Differences in general characteristics, aetiological factors, blood tests and laboratory data, severity of the disease and outcome were evaluated. The presence of intercurrent diseases was also investigated in the two age groups. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in the distribution of the various aetiological factors in the two age groups considered. The percentage of @entity1 with @entity39 forms of AP, Ranson prognostic score for severity, @entity149 , the number of @entity1 requiring surgical intervention or endoscopic sphincterotomy, as well as length of hospital stay were similar in the two groups. Considering the @entity1 suffering from @entity39 acute @entity788 , a significant increase (p = 0.01) in mortality was observed in > or = 70-year-old @entity1 (25.8 vs 7.8%). Associated diseases were significantly more frequent in advanced age (63.6 vs 41.4%; p = 0.0004), but comorbidity did not correlate with the presence of @entity39 , the need for surgery or endoscopic sphincterotomy, and with mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that advanced age and related comorbidity have only a limited influence on the course and outcome of acute @entity788 .
