Simultaneous Serum Assays of Lipase and Interleukin-6 for Early Diagnosis and Prognosis of Acute Pancreatitis

• Published in: Clinical chemistry (Baltimore, Md.) Md.), 1999-10, Vol.45 (10), p.1762-1767
• Main Authors: Pezzilli, Raffaele, Morselli-Labate, Antonio Maria, Miniero, Rita, Barakat, Bahjat, Fiocchi, Manuela, Cappelletti, Onda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Clinical Enzyme Tests; Digestive system; Female; Humans; Interleukin-6 - blood; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Lipase - blood; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Pancreatitis - blood; Pancreatitis - diagnosis; Pathology. Cytology. Biochemistry. Spectrometry. Miscellaneous investigative techniques; Prognosis; Severity of Illness Index
• ISSN: 0009-9147; 1530-8561
• DOI: 10.1093/clinchem/45.10.1762

There are no systems for the rapid diagnosis and prognosis of acute pancreatitis in the Emergency Department. Our aim was to evaluate whether the combined use of serum lipase and interleukin-6 or serum lipase and C-reactive protein is able to simultaneously establish both the diagnosis and the prognosis of acute pancreatitis. Eighty patients with acute abdomen were studied on admission to the Emergency Room. Forty patients had nonpancreatic acute abdomen, and 40 had acute pancreatitis (25 had mild acute pancreatitis and 15 had severe pancreatitis). Forty healthy subjects comparable for sex and age were also studied as controls. Lipase, interleukin-6, and C-reactive protein were determined on serum in all subjects. Using lipase to discriminate between patients with nonpancreatic acute abdomen and patients with acute pancreatitis (cutoff values ranging from 419 to 520 U/L), one patient with acute pancreatitis was not identified correctly. To discriminate between patients with severe acute pancreatitis and those with mild pancreatitis in the remaining 39 patients, interleukin-6 (cutoff value,