COMMENTARY
See article on page 97
CAPAP in acute pancreatitis: just another marker or real progress?
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
There are no pathognomonic symptoms in acute pancreatitis. In reaching a diagnosis the patient's history, physical findings, and serum amylase or lipase concentrations have to be considered. Serum amylase is one of the oldest clinically useful laboratory tests, having been around for almost 70 years.1 However, too great a reliance on amylase or lipase will lead to underdiagnosis owing to the lack of sensitivity and specificity.2
Up to 20% of patients with acute pancreatitis run a severe
clinical course and these patients must be identified as quickly as
possible. The "gold standard" for staging patients with acute pancreatitis is dynamic contrast enhanced computed
tomography.3 Disease severity, however, may only become
apparent at laparotomy (or necropsy). Operative intervention is not
needed in uncomplicated cases and should be avoided if at all posssible
in severe acute pancreatitis. Researchers have also attempted to
differentiate between mild and severe forms of acute pancreatitis using
so-called
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Gut 1998 42: 97-102.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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