Among factors implicated in the etiology of acute pancreatitis are the following general categories: (1) obstruction of the common bile and/or pancreatic ducts, (2) dietary deficiencies or toxic substances, such as alcohol, (3) infectious agents, either bacterial or viral, (4) allergic factors, (5) trauma, and (6) vascular factors. The purpose of this communication is to direct attention to a vascular lesion which appears to be associated with acute pancreatitis in cases in which no other causal factor is apparent. As to the role of vascular lesions in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis, some investigators believe that the occlusion of pancreatic vessels can result in acute inflammation of the pancreas without the necessity of intervention of other causal agents, whereas other observers are of the opinion that vascular processes play only a minor or contributory role. We have collected 12 cases of atheromatous embolization from the aorta to pancreatic arteries, in