Acute Pancreatitis during Primary HIV-1 Infection

Abstract

To the Editor: The most common clinical presentation of primary infection with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is a mononucleosis-like illness.1 Other clinical manifestations include Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia,2 cryptosporidiosis,3 herpes esophagitis,4 and hemorrhagic fever.5 We describe two patients in whom symptomatic primary HIV-1 infection was associated with acute pancreatitis. A 52-year-old heterosexual man with an HIV-1–positive partner presented with fever (38.5°C), severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and cervical and axillary lymphadenopathy. Three days later a diffuse macular rash appeared. The laboratory data are shown in Table 1. Ultrasonography and computed tomography (CT) demonstrated edema of the pancreas, with areas of . . .