Urinary Amylase as the First Line Diagnostic Tool for Acute Pancreatitis

A critical evaluation of serum lipase and amylase as diagnostic tests for acute pancreatitis

Laboratory testing of serum amylase and/or lipase levels are central to the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis (AP) as these tests are quick, cheap, reliable and perhaps the only objective criteria available at the bedside at the time of initial presentation. It is important to understand the physiology and biochemistry of these tests in order to get a clear grasp of their diagnostic utility. Lipa...

Recurrent Acute Pancreatitis: A Diagnostic Clue to Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Acute pancreatitis as the first presentation of Wegener's granulomatosis.

CONTEXT Wegener's granulomatosis is a systemic vasculitis with prominent involvement of the respiratory tract and kidney. An association between acute pancreatitis and Wegener's granulomatosis is rarely reported and is even rarer as the first presentation. This can result in diagnostic difficulty and may allow severe pancreatitis to develop with potentially poor outcome. CASE REPORT We report...

Acute pancreatitis as the first manifestation of duodenal MALT lymphoma.

BACKGROUND Possibly any tumor that can cause mechanical obstruction of the distal bile duct can induce acute pancreatitis. However, acute pancreatitis as the first clinical manifestation of duodenal lymphoma is extremely rare. OBJECTIVE To report the case of a patient with acute pancreatitis as an extremely rare first manifestation of duodenal MALT lymphoma and possible association with eryth...

Relation of diagnostic serum amylase levels to aetiology and severity of acute pancreatitis.

The sensitivity of diagnostic serum amylase (greater than 1000 iu/l) was assessed in 417 patients with acute pancreatitis as a result of gall stones (258), alcohol (104), or miscellaneous causes (55), of whom 111 (27%) had a clinically severe attack (including 34 deaths). On hospital admission, an amylase value diagnostic of pancreatitis was found in 96.1% of all mild cases and in 87.4% of seve...