Vitamin D deficiency predicts severe acute pancreatitis

BackgroundThe ability to predict the severity of disease is important to reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP). Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with severity in various diseases.ObjectiveThis study was conducted to assess vitamin D as a predictor of disease severity in patients with AP.MethodsPatients with AP were prospectively enrolled at Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine from March 2015 to September 2017. Serum vitamin D was analyzed as soon as AP was diagnosed. The level of vitamin D was classified as normal (>20 ng/ml), insufficient (>10 and ≤20 ng/ml) or deficient (≤10 ng/ml).ResultsAmong 242 patients with AP, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 56.2%, and 28.5% of patients had vitamin D insufficiency. Serum vitamin D level was negatively correlated with severity indexes, such as the Atlanta classification, Computed Tomography Severity Index, Bedside Index for Severity of Acute Pancreatitis, and Ranson score. The prevalence of vitamin D defi...