A case of acute pancreatitis possibly caused by allergy to banana.

We report here a 47-year-old female who had episode of acute pancreatitis three times after banana ingestion. After each admission clinical symptoms such as epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea were disappeared within a few days with a light diet and intravenous fluids in parallel with normalizing serum amylase levels. Serum total IgE level was elevated and serum specific IgE level to banana was 2.18 UA/ml. No remarkable abnormalities were present in sonography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance image (MRI) on the abdomen, and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). Endoscopic examination of the upper digestive tract, showed that the ampulla of Vater was swollen and edematous. Toluidine blue staining and immunohistochemical staining against human mast cell tryptase with biopsy specimens showed mast cells accumulation in mucosa and submucosa of the stomach. Even though the provocation test by banana could not be performed, the patient was diagnosed as having pancreatitis possibly caused by allergy to banana because she has not suffered any attacks of pancreatitis since the third attack by avoiding ingestion of banana.