The value of serum procalcitonin in the early phase of post-ERCP pancreatitis

Objective: Procalcitonin is considered a possible predictive marker of severity in the early phase of acute pancreatitis. The variations of procalcitonin levels after ERCP and its contribution to the determination of the severity of post-ERCP pancreatitis were studied. Methods: Serum procalcitonin was measured with immunoluminometric assay (normal<0.5ng/ml) in 196 patients who underwent ERCP. Samples from all patients included in the study were collected 6 hours after ERCP. Samples from patients who experienced pancreatic type pain were also collected 24 hours after ERCP. Severity of pancreatitis was graded according to consensus criteria. Results: Ten patients developed pancreatitis, 3 severe, 1 moderate and 6 mild. Procalcitonin did not exceed 0.5ng/ml in any of them. Significant elevations of procalcitonin were observed when acute cholangitis was encountered. Conclusion: Procalcitonin was not useful in the prediction of the severity in the early phase of post-ERCP acute pancreatitis. The absence of organ failure and infective complications may have contributed to this result.