Idiopathic acute pancreatitis.

In most patients presenting with acute pancreatitis, the cause can be established on the basis of initial history, physical examination, laboratory studies, and abdominal sonography. Patients with unexplained pancreatitis at that point are often considered to have idiopathic disease. However, a cause and, often, effective treatment to prevent recurrent pancreatitis are possible in many of these patients if an aggressive diagnostic approach is taken to discover undiagnosed hyperlipidemia, occult gallstones, abnormalities of the bile and pancreatic ducts, sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, pancreatic cancer and other tumors, and cystic fibrosis (in children and young adults).