Acute pancreatitis associated with hypertriglyceridemia: a life-threatening complication.

Acute pancreatitis is rare cause in pregnancy and gallstones are clearly the most common cause of pancreatitis during pregnancy. Only a small percentage of women with acute pancreatitis are associated with hypertriglyceridemia and it is most often noted during the last two trimesters of pregnancy. Hypertriglyceridemia is a rare cause of pancreatitis in pregnant women and complication such as pancreatitis carries a higher risk of mortality for both the mother and the fetus. Our purpose was to report our experience with acute pancreatitis as a lethal complication of hypertriglyceridemia during the third trimester of pregnancy.