962: Racial differences in the clinical profile, causes and outcome of chronic pancreatitis

Background: Racial differences in susceptibility and progression of pancreatitis have been reported in epidemiologic studies using administrative or retrospective data. There is little data, however, on the clinical profile, causes and outcome of chronic pancreatitis in black patients. Methods: We analyzed data on black or white patients with chronic pancreatitis prospectively enrolled in the multicenter North American Pancreatitis Studies from 26 US centers during the years 2000-2014. Chronic pancreatitis was defined by definitive evidence on imaging studies or histology. Information on demographics, etiology, risk factors, disease phenotype, treatments and their perceived effectiveness was obtained from responses to detailed questionnaires completed by both patients and physicians. Results:Of the 1159 patients enrolled, 248 (21%) were black. When compared with whites, blacks were significantly (all p Conclusions: Differences were observed between blacks and whites in the underlying cause, morphologic expression, and pain characteristics of chronic pancreatitis, which in part are explained by the underlying risk factor(s) with alcohol and tobacco being much more frequent in black patients