American Headache Society Committee on Headache Education，ACHE

 American Headache Society Committee on Headache Education

【网址】http://www.achenet.org
【类型】 专业机构

 美国头痛学会头痛教育委员会（American Headache Society Committee on Headache Education,ACHE）是美国头痛学会（American Headache Society,AHS）于1990年创办的一个非盈利性保健专业机构,目前成员有1500名内科医生、保健专家和科研学者。机构宗旨是提高头痛患者的治疗水平,为保健护理人员提供工具和资源以便有效治愈患者。机构通过对头痛治疗和发病机制的普及教育,使内科医生和健康护理人员更有效地帮助患者治疗和控制疾病,减少头痛对其工作和家庭的影响,改善其整体生活质量。

网站既为专业人员、患者及其家属提供教育和支持,又为卫生政策制定者、医学院校和相关领导者提供帮助。主要信息资源包括头痛教育资源、评估偏头痛致残性量表、评价疾病影响程度工具、经认证的头痛内科医生名单、新闻来信和其他相关材料。主要栏目如下：

Information for Patients：专为患者提供的信息资源,包括论文、患者宣传手册、儿童患者、患者交流、患者博客和视频。所列论文介绍头痛诱发因素、治疗和预防等基本知识;患者交流则由专人介绍该病的经验性总结,如各种类型头痛基本知识、常见诱因和控制方法。

Tools：提供头痛相关的实用表格、偏头痛致残评估（MIDAS）测试、儿童和青少年头痛致残评估量表。其中头痛日记分为每日、每周和每月3种类型,用户可以下载模板填写相关内容,方便医生更好地做出诊断。

Resources：提供卫生保健专家列表和其他网站信息。用户可以根据专家姓名、所在国家和城市、专业等信息快速检索专家名录;网站信息包括医学信息网站、头痛相关医师机构、患者/医生组织和网站以及头痛和偏头痛的临床试验网站。

此外,Literature Center提供论文、图书、期刊的"头痛"主题链接,ACHE News提供相关新闻时事、著名专家观点、和新的科学发现。

（中国医科大学医学信息学系  黄亚明 潘现伟整理）     

糖化血红蛋白对中国人群糖尿病诊断价值的Meta分析

 目的 系统评价糖化血红蛋白(HbA1c)≥6.5%在中国成人糖尿病诊断中的价值。 
方法 计算机检索国内外重要数据库,搜索有关HbA1c≥6.5%在中国成人中糖尿病诊断价值的文献。采用诊断性试验准确性质量评价工具（QUADAS）评价纳入文献质量,应用Meta-Disc1.4软件对纳入研究进行综合定量评价,并绘制综合ROC（SROC）曲线。
结果 共纳入11篇文献。对于HbA1c≥6.5%在中国成人中的诊断价值为：合并敏感度为0.62(95%CI：0.60~0.64),合并特异度为0.96(95%CI：0.95~0.96),诊断性比值比(DOR)为40.25(95%CI：20.79~77.95),AUC_SROC为0.7702(s_x=0.0636),Q=0.7103(s_x=0.0537)。
结论 HbA1c≥6.5%在中国成人糖尿病中的诊断特异度非常高,但敏感度相对较低,存在一定的漏诊率,需结合血糖检测以降低漏诊率。     

轻度碘缺乏城市食盐加碘后甲状腺疾病流行病学调查研究

 目的 评价轻度碘缺乏城市贵阳食盐加碘25年后的碘营养状态及各种甲状腺疾病的患病情况。
方法 采用分层整群抽样方法,抽取贵阳市云岩区宅吉社区20岁及以上居民1509人,测定其血清促甲状腺素（TSH）、游离T₃、游离T₄、甲状腺过氧化物酶抗体（TPOAb）、甲状腺球蛋白抗体（TgAb）水平、尿碘水平及甲状腺B超检查;同时抽取8~10岁学龄儿童80名,测定其尿碘水平。
结果 8~10岁儿童尿碘中位数为228.7 μg/L。成人临床甲状腺功能减退症（甲减）、亚临床甲减、临床甲状腺功能亢进症（甲亢）及亚临床甲亢的患病率分别为1.79%、14.12%、1.52%及1.06%,亚临床甲减的患病率显著高于临床甲减（P < 0.05）;TPOAb及TgAb的阳性率分别为14.38%及 13.59%,自身免疫性甲状腺炎的患病率为4.44%。甲状腺肿大患病率为1.06%,其中,弥漫性甲状腺肿（0.86%）较结节性甲状腺肿（0.20%）多见（P < 0.05）。
结论 食盐加碘25年后,贵阳市处于碘超足量状态,成人临床甲减、亚临床甲减、甲状腺自身抗体阳性及自身免疫性甲状腺炎的患病率均较高。     

National Cancer Institute

 【网址】 http://www.cancer.gov/
【类型】专业机构
美国国立癌症研究所(National Cancer Institute, NCI) 是美国癌症研究和资助的主要机构，是美国国立卫生研究院(NIH)所属的27个研究所中历史最为悠久的研究所。NCI主要任务是推动国家癌症研究计划的执行，采用多元化运作模式，工作内容包括相关人员培训、健康资讯传播、拟定癌症诊治研究计划以及关注病人康复。NCI的目标是鼓励和支持癌症研究中的新发现并促进其应用，以期使癌症在不远的将来变为少见而易治的疾病。
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NCI 主页的癌症相关信息资源有：
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（1）癌症主题（Cancer Topics）：信息内容涉及癌症相关的多个领域，包括癌症类型、癌症简介、治疗、预防、预后、遗传因素、筛查和检测等。“Cancer Library”提供NCI的事实数据、出版物、癌症主题检索；癌症术语资源链接了NCI辞典、联合医学术语表、美国食品药品管理局（FDA）术语表和临床数据交换标准协会(CDISC)术语表。
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（2）临床试验（Clinical Trial）：提供临床试验相关信息，内容包括临床试验项目简介、近期临床试验的结果、临床试验过程中使用的信息资源和工具等。
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（3）癌症统计学（Cancer Statistics）：提供癌症统计数据，介绍统计术语、数据用途、基于人群的癌症统计数据的计算；多种常见癌症的最新主题报告、交互图和地理与人口学分布；SEER项目癌症数据库入口、统计学方法和软件工具。
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（4）研究和资助（Research &; Funding）：公布NCI科研资助预算，NCI资助项目和培训计划的介绍、受助条件和标准，另外还链接了多种在线研究工具和在线服务供研究者参考。 （中国医科大学医学信息学系 黄亚明 潘现伟 整理）     

口服降糖药治疗失效的2型糖尿病患者使用地特胰岛素的安全性和有效性SOLVETM国际临床观察研究中国结果报道

 目的 诺和平1天1次注射研究（Study of Once-daily LeVEmir^®,SOLVE^TM）是一项为期24周、多中心、开放的观察性研究,旨在评价口服降糖药治疗失效的2型糖尿病患者中起始加用每天1次地特胰岛素（诺和平^®）治疗后的安全性和有效性。
方法 本研究来源于SOLVE^TM国际研究的中国结果。共有3272例使用口服降糖药治疗失效的2型糖尿病患者纳入本研究。参与研究的医生处方地特胰岛素,并在基线和治疗后12周、24周分别收集患者的临床数据,以评价药物的安全性和疗效。
结果 入选的3272例患者年龄（56.2±10.8）岁,糖尿病病程（7.1±5.2）年,基线BMI（25.3±3.3）kg/m²。治疗期间未观察到重度低血糖事件和夜间重度低血糖事件。治疗24周后,糖化血红蛋白（HbA1c）从基线的（8.33±1.69）%下降到（7.16±1.18）%,空腹血糖（FPG）从（9.52±2.59）mmol/L下降到（6.84±1.42）mmol/L,全天7个时点血糖全面改善,HbA1c<7％的患者达标率为49.1％。患者平均体重下降0.15 kg。
结论 口服降糖药失效的2型糖尿病患者,起始加用1天1次地特胰岛素治疗未观察到重度低血糖事件,同时有效改善血糖控制水平,提高治疗达标率,且对体重影响为中性。     

中国湖北地区腹泻型肠易激综合征患者中成人乳糜泻血清学筛查

 目的 筛查伴有血清学特征的成人乳糜泻在中国湖北人群特别是腹泻型肠易激综合征（D-IBS）患者中的患病情况。 
方法 依据罗马Ⅲ标准选取282例D-IBS患者,并以296例年龄和性别匹配并且无腹泻症状的体检人群作为对照组,采用ELISA法检测血清IgA/IgG型抗人组织转谷氨酰胺酶/脱酰胺麸朊肽抗体（抗htTG/DGP）水平。血清抗体阳性者建议行去麸质饮食治疗5~6个月,观察临床疗效,并复查血清中抗htTG/DGP水平。
结果 纳入试验的578例研究对象中,血清抗htTG/DGP阳性7例,其中D-IBS组5例（5/282, 1.77%）,对照组2例（2/296, 0.68%）。抗htTG/DGP阳性研究对象中,4例同意并进行了平均5.2个月的去麸质饮食治疗,随访观察显示其临床症状均得到明显改善,并伴随血清抗htTG/DGP水平降低。
结论 乳糜泻在中国可能并非罕见疾病,特别是在D-IBS患者乳糜泻发病率更高,因此,在IBS患者中进行乳糜泻血清学筛查具有重要意义。     

有关糖尿病神经病变的文献计量学分析：2003～2012

目的 掌握目前糖尿病神经病变（DN）发展现状和趋势. 方法 采用文献计量学方法对PubMed中2003～2012年收录的关于DN方面的文献进行分析.统计2003年1月至2012年12月PubMed共收录DN的文献数量.对文献数量行线性回归分析,得到DN的总文献量的变化趋势（y=21.43x＋528.53）. 结果 文献主要以英文为主并逐年稳步递增. 结论 既往研究主要仍以糖尿病周围神经病变（DPN）研究为主.研究已从临床转向基础研究,研究的热点和方向主要集中在DN的治疗、病理生理学、病因学等方面.     

多通道食管腔内阻抗-pH监测对胃食管反流性咳嗽的诊断价值

 目的 探讨多通道食管腔内阻抗-pH监测（MII-pH）对胃食管反流性咳嗽（GERC）的诊断价值和局限性。方法 选择2010年5月—2011年7月在同济大学附属同济医院呼吸内科门诊就诊的可疑GERC患者,进行MII-pH,并经药物抗反流治疗证实诊断。分析MII-pH对GERC诊断的灵敏度、特异度、假阳性率、假阴性率、总符合率、阳性预计值和阴性预计值,并计算AUC_ROC和Kappa值。结果 在接受MII-pH的56例患者中,35例结果阳性,30例（85.7%）确诊为GERC,其中酸反流引起者25例（83.3%）,非酸反流引起者5例（16.7%）。在21例MII-pH阴性结果患者中,有6例（28.6%）经药物抗反流治疗,GERC诊断得到证实。MII-pH对GERC的诊断灵敏度为83.3%,特异度75.0%,假阳性率25.0%,假阴性率16.7%,总符合率80.4%,阳性预测值85.7%,阴性预测值71.4%,AUC_ROC 0.792,Kappa值0.577。结论 MII-pH能识别包括非酸反流在内的所有GERC,是较灵敏可靠的GERC诊断手段。     

American Association for Respiratory Care

 【网址】 http://www.aarc.org 
【类型】 专业机构 
美国呼吸护理协会（American Association for Respiratory Care，AARC）创建于1947年，是一个国际领先的非营利性组织，会员逾52 000人，主要由呼吸治疗师和辅助内科医师的护理从业者组成。协会由美国胸腔学会（ATS）、美国胸科医师学会（ACCP）和美国麻醉医师学 会（ASA）资助。 
AARC主办两种期刊：Respiratory Care和AARC Times Magazine，前者主要发表原始研究论文和专题病例报告，如胸部X摄影术、肺功能检测 和血气分析；后者为新闻实事杂志。 
AARC每年举办国际呼吸年会，吸引世界各地6000多位呼吸治疗师和相关从业人员聚会研讨。AARC每年还举办其它学术会议、教学项目和专题讨论会。 
AARC网站上提供大量信息资源，主要栏目如下：
（1）社区交流（Community）：提供多种渠道的促进学会与会员、会员与会员之间交流的平台，如专业人员与社会交流网点AARConnect、 AARC电子邮件列表、微博等。
（2）资源（Resources）：提供相关新闻和杂志的文档、AARC基准系统（AARC Benchmarking System）、重要政府网站的链接、AARC资助项 目、临床实践指南、图片库、政府政策和声明等。AARC基准系统供各呼吸病诊疗单位在线报告和相互比较有关数据，以准确数据支持诊治决 策。
（3）职业（Career）：提供工作信息、求职建议、呼吸治疗师相关介绍以及呼吸护理领域研究者、治疗师、学生和内科医生的真实生活和 科研视频。
（4）教育（Education）：为专业人员和学生提供重要的教育资源链接，以及相关教育项目目前开展的状态，包括AARC继续教育课程、学术 会议等链接。网站还提供呼吸护理相关学会和政府机构、卫生保健相关学会、专业期刊等网络资源的链接。
（中国医科大学医学信息学系黄亚明潘现伟 整理）     

溶血隐秘杆菌致Lemierre综合征一例并文献复习

 目的 提高对溶血隐秘杆菌致Lemierre综合征的认识及诊治水平。
方法 分析1例溶血隐秘杆菌致Lemierre综合征的临床特点,并进行文献复习。
结果 患者男,无诱因发热伴咽痛,体检发现左侧扁桃体充血、肿大,血常规正常,X线胸部正位片未见异常。初步诊断：急性扁桃体炎（左侧）。予青霉素+阿奇霉素治疗后,症状加重,查白细胞计数13.59×10⁹/L,中性粒细胞比例0.933,血小板计数7.4×10⁹/L;TBil 54.3 mmol/L,DBil 28.3 mmol/L,AST 127 IU/L,ALT 82 IU/L,血清白蛋白19.3 g/L。血培养结果为溶血隐秘杆菌,改静脉滴注哌拉西林-他唑巴坦治疗后体温恢复正常。随后患者出现左侧颈内静脉血栓形成,予抗凝治疗。出院后2个月和4个月时随访患者,未见异常。检索文献3例,结合本例共4例,4例患者均为男性,年龄19～54岁,均以咽痛和发热为首发和主要症状,均伴有颈部疼痛;咽炎2例,扁桃体周围渗出或脓肿各1例,皮疹2例;血白细胞计数均升高,血小板计数均下降,肝功能损伤3例,急性肾衰竭2例,急性呼吸衰竭1例;首查X线胸片均正常,病情进展后胸部X线或CT提示双肺周边多发结节高密度影伴空洞形成3例,局灶或楔形浸润影1例,胸腔积液1例;血培养结果提示单一溶血隐秘杆菌2例,溶血隐秘杆菌和坏死梭形杆菌复合感染2例;4例患者均应用青霉素+酶抑制剂治疗有效;有血栓者予抗凝治疗;无死亡病例。
结论 Lemierre综合征临床特点有原发口咽部感染、脓毒血症、感染性或栓塞性颈静脉炎及至少一处远处化脓灶,早期诊断、及时治疗可降低溶血隐秘杆菌致Lemierre综合征病死率。     

Global trends of ERCP research in the last 25 years: A bibliometrics study

Purpose:Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) has been used in clinical practice for over 50 years. This study aims to investigate the current state of research in the field of ERCP.Methods:Web of Science database was searched using the term “ERCP” for articles published between 1994 and 2018. The total number of articles from the top 20 countries with the most published articles was determined. The top 5 countries were compared in terms of output per capita, number of articles published in top journals, cumulative impact factor (IF), and average IF. All annual data were subjected to time-trend analysis. The frequently used terms in the titles and abstracts of all articles were retrieved to conduct co-occurrence analysis to determine the research focus of ERCP.Results:A total of 9960 articles on ERCP were published between 1994 and 2018, of which 8778 articles were from the top 20 producing countries. There was a significant positive correlation between the output and GDP of each country (R = 0.870, P = .001). The United States of America (USA), Japan, Germany, Italy, and China were the top 5 producing countries with 3190 (32.0%), 868 (8.7%), 658 (6.6%), 512 (5.1%) and 488 (4.9%) articles published, respectively. The USA, Japan, Italy, and China were trending upwards in the total outputs and outputs per capita, while Germany were trending downwards. For average IF, Germany had a downwards trend, while the other 4 countries remained stable. Overall, the USA had the highest output per capita (97.5/10 million) and the highest average IF (6.454). China had the lowest output per capita (3.5/10 million) and average IF (3.125). The ERCP procedures for sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, the combination of ERCP, and laparoscopic cholecystectomy have been the research focus of ERCP.Conclusions:Except for Germany, research on ERCP will continue to increase in the top-producing countries. The outputs per capita and quality of articles from developed countries are higher than those from developing countries.     

An overview of rheumatological research in the European Union

OBJECTIVES—To evaluate the distribution and scope of papers published by authors from the European Union (EU) in rheumatological journals and the impact of rheumatological research in the EU in comparison with that produced elsewhere.
METHODS—Papers published during the year 1995 in the 17 rheumatological journals screened by ISI were considered. The journal impact factor (IF) was noted. All key words, both those reported by the authors and those attributed by ISI, were identified and their frequency was calculated using a special purpose program.
RESULTS—2331 papers were published in the rheumatological literature during 1995. Of them, 1316 (56.5%) came from the EU (29.4% from the UK, 17.4% from France, 11.5% from Germany, and 10.8 % from Italy) and 544 (23.3%) from the USA. The mean IF of EU papers was approximately 2 in comparison with 3.5 for the USA and 2.4 for other countries. In 1995, 2680 key words attributed by the authors and 5651 attributed by ISI appeared in the rheumatological literature. Less than a quarter of them was cited more than twice. The leading key words were rheumatoid arthritis for diseases and methotrexate for drugs.
CONCLUSIONS—Bibliometric findings are useful to follow research trends. These data show the relevance of EU rheumatological research and the high scientific production of small countries. Dispersion of key words should be avoided and journal editors should promote their standardisation.

Keywords: rheumatology; bibliometrics; Europe; keyword     

Scientific publications in gastroenterology and hepatology in Western Europe, USA and Japan in the years 1992-1996: a global survey

AIM: To evaluate number and quality of publications in gastroenterology, hepatology and digestive endoscopy from Western Europe (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland), Japan and USA over a recent 5-year period. METHODS: We screened by computer for full liver/gastrointestinal-related articles and reviews the top 40% of journals (according to the annual rating of the SCI Journal Citation Reports; Institute for Scientific Information database) in most clinical and basic science disciplines in the years 1992-1996. To be credited with an article, a given country had to be the site of the first institution where the work was conducted. Papers were rated according to the impact factor of the Institute for Scientific Information and to the ratio impact factor/mean European impact factor. Data were also normalized for nondefense research and development expenditure. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: As randomly tested, the computer search had an error of +/- 5-10%. In Europe, Great Britain achieved the highest total impact factor and the highest number of papers. Most of the British impact factor came from publications in British journals. The total USA impact factor exceeded that of Europe by 20%. The average impact factor for a single paper was highest for the USA and, in Europe, for Germany. The temporal trend of total impact factor showed Spain improving by 9% per year, with Germany and Italy also displaying a substantial growth. Expressed per funds allocated in nondefense research and development, Great Britain and the USA had the highest cumulative impact factor.     

Cost of diabetic foot in France,Spain, Italy,Germany and United Kingdom: A systematic review

AimCost estimates for diabetic foot are available for developed countries based on cost data for different years. This study aimed to provide a comparison of the cost of diabetic foot in E5 (France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom) and its characteristics across different conditions.MethodsPubMed, Central and Embase databases were searched in February 2017 for English language publications. Bibliographies of relevant papers were also searched manually. Reviews and research papers from E5 regions reporting on cost of diabetic foot were included. Reported cost was converted to equivalent 2016 $ for comparison purposes. All the costs presented are mean cost per patient per year in 2016 $.ResultsNine studies were included in the analysis. The total cost of amputation ranged from $ 15,046 in 2001 to $ 38,621 in 2005. The direct cost of amputation ranged from $ 13,842 in 2001 to $ 83,728 during 2005–2009. Indirect cost of amputation was more uniform, ranging from between $ 1,043 to $ 1,442. The direct cost of gangrene ranged from $ 3,352 in 2003 to $ 8,818 in Germany. Although, for the same year, 2003, the cost for Spain was almost double that for Germany. The total cost of an uninfected ulcer was $ 6,174 in 2002, but increased to $ 14,441 in 2005; for an infected ulcer the cost increased from $ 2,637 to $ 2,957. The different countries showed variations in the components used to calculate the cost of diabetic foot.ConclusionsThe E5 incurs a heavy cost from diabetic foot and its complications. There is an unmet need for the identification of cost-cutting strategies, as diabetic foot costs more than major cardiac diseases.     

Global research in sarcopenia: High-cited papers,research institutions,funding agencies and collaborations, 1993–2022

Background and aimsThis bibliometric analysis aims to analyze the high-cited papers (HCPs), those which have received >100 citations) on Sarcopenia to provide insight into publication performances and research characteristics of the literature.MethodsGlobal HCPs on Sarcopenia research were identified from the Scopus database from January 1993 to August 2022. VOSviewer, and Biblioshiny software were used to visualize the collaborative interaction among most productive countries, organizations, authors, and keywords. Select bibliometric measures were applied to evaluate the publication productivity and their influence in this area.ResultsOut of 6219 publications on Sarcopenia only 398 were HCPs. These HCPs received an average of 271.7 citations per publication (CPP). The most productive organizations were the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy, and Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Center on Aging, USA. The most impactful organizations in terms of CPP and relative citation index were CHU de Toulouse, France, and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy. The most productive authors were Landi F and Morley JE, and Anker SD from Italy and Germany respectively. The most impactful authors were: Cederholm T (Sweden), Cruz JAJ (Spain) and Rolland Y (France). There were few/no HCPs from South America, Africa, South Asia, and USSR.ConclusionSarcopenia research has been predominantly done in USA, Europe, and China, and rarely from low and middle-income countries. Further focus of research should be on its etiopathogenesis (especially at the molecular level), prevalence in different communities, methods to diagnose it in early stages, and its cost-effective management.     

Immune response in heart transplantation: a bibliometric analysis

BackgroundHeart failure is the end stage of various heart diseases. For patients with poor or ineffective response drug treatment, heart transplantation is a reasonable and effective option. With the accumulation of heart transplantation cases, there are more and more studies on the immune response after heart transplantation. The purpose of the present study was to provide a bibliometric analysis of the current status of studies related to immune responses after heart transplantation.MethodsWe searched the Science Citation Index Expanded online database with the following search terms: “heart transplantation” and “immune response”. CiteSpace software was used to analyze the search results, including the annual trend in the number of publications, the annual trend in the number of citations, the distribution of the countries and institutions to which the authors belonged, the distribution of authors, the distribution of the journals that published the literature, and the use of keywords.ResultsA total of 1,393 related research papers were included. The top five countries with the greatest number of published papers were the USA, China, Germany, the UK, and Japan. The countries with active cooperation with other countries were the USA, the UK, Germany, China, and Canada. The top five research institutions with the greatest number of published papers were the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, Washington University, Stanford University, and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. The research institutions with active cooperation with other institutions were the University of Pittsburgh, Stanford University, Harvard University, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. The top five authors with the most published papers were David K. C. Cooper, Hidetaka Hara, Hayato Iwase, David Ayares, and Cassandra Long. Core journals were Transplantation, Journal of Immunology, and Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America. Keyword analysis revealed that research hotspots changed over time.ConclusionsResearch on immune response after heart transplantation is concentrated in a few countries, and more clinical research is needed in the future.     

Epidemiology of pancreatic diseases in Lüneburg county: A study in a defined German population

Background/Aims: Worldwide, the incidence of pancreatic cancer is very well known, that of acute pancreatitis and chronic pancreatitis not. Our study sought to determine the incidence of all three pancreatic diseases in a well-defined population in Germany. Methods: Records of all patients treated for acute (first attacks only) and chronic pancreatitis as well as pancreatic cancer from 1988 to 1995 and who resided in the county of Lüneburg were evaluated. Results: The crude incidence rates for acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer per 100,000 inhabitants/year were 19.7, 6.4, and 7.8. In acute and chronic pancreatitis the male gender dominated, whereas in pancreatic carcinoma the gender ratio was almost even. Peak incidence for acute pancreatitis was in the age group of 35–44 years, for chronic pancreatitis 45–54, and for pancreatic cancer 6575. Etiology of acute pancreatitis was biliary in 40%, alcohol abuse in 32%, unknown in 20%, and other in 8% of the patients. In chronic pancreatitis alcohol abuse was the etiology in 72% and unknown (idiopathic) in 28%. Conclusion: For the first time, epidemiological data obtained in a well-defined German population are being published relating to all three pancreatic diseases: acute pancreatitis (incidence rate, etiology and severity), chronic pancreatitis (incidence rate and etiology), and pancreatic carcinoma (incidence rate). A peak incidence of chronic pancreatitis occurring in an age group 10 years older than the peak age group for acute pancreatitis suggests that chronic pancreatitis develops during this time-frame following first attacks of acute pancreatitis.