Abstract： Objective To investigate the etiology and clinical characteristics of acute pancreatitis complicated with hyperlipidemia.Methods 497 patients admitted from Jan.2002 to Dec.2007 were screened,60 patients who fulfiHed the inclusion criteria were enrolled,and these patients were divided into two groups according to the level of serum triglyeeride and disease severity respectively.Patients whose serum level of triglyeeride>11.3 mmoVL were defined as severe hyperlipidemia group.while those patients whose serum level of triglyceride between 5.65～11.3 mmol/L with milky serliiH were defined as mild hyperlipidemia group.Patients were classified into mild acute pancreatitis(MAP) and Severe acute pancreatitis(SAP) groups according to the disease severity.The etiology and clinical characteristics in all patients were investigated. Results There were 13 patients in severe hyperlipidemia group,47 patients in mild hyperlipidemia group.5 patients(38.5%)in Severe hyperlipidemia group had history of acute pancreatitis,which wag significantly higher than that of mild hyperlipidemia group(10.6%,P<0.05).The etiology was mainly biliary diseases in the mild hyperlipidemia group,and mainly hyperlipidemia in the severe hyperlipidemia group.The levels of total cholesterol and triglyceride was(8.17±2.76)mmol/L and(13.47±4.12)mmol/L,which were significantly higher than(4.97±1.67)mmol/L and(4.09±2.18)mmol/L of mild hyperlipidemia group(P< 0.01).The Serum amylase,gluc08e,TG,Tc and duration of relief of abdominal pain were(1396±2233) U/L.(14.17±8.37)mmol/L,(7.69±6.56)mol/L,(5.39±3.58)mmol/L and(6.30±3.27)d, respectively,in SAP group;and the corresponding values were(831±1348)U/L,(8.28±3.89)mmol/L, (5.55±3.92)moVL,(5.64±1.79)mol/L and(4.29±2.62)d in MAP group;only the values ofglucose and duration of relief of abdominal pain were statistically different(P<0.05).Conclusions The recurrence rate of acute panereatitis was hisher in patients with severe hyperlipdemia;the severity of hyperlipdemia Was closely associated with the development of acute pancreatitis,but not the severity of acute pancreatitis.