Foreign body of the pancreas.
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Deglutition↗
Biomedical subjects
R Pezzilli
Publications and source records attributed to R Pezzilli.
Behaviour of serum pancreatic enzymes in chronic pancreatitis.
AIM: To establish whether serum pancreatic enzyme determination is useful in the identification of patients with chronic pancreatitis and in revealing the presence of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 50 patients with chronic pancreatitis were included in the investigation: 19 were studied during a painful attack of the disease and 31 were observed during clinical remission of the disease and underwent a secretin-caerulein test; 21 of the 31 patients had severe pancreatic insufficiency. Thirty patients with non-pancreatic digestive diseases were also studied. Serum amylase, pancreatic isoamylase, lipase, trypsinogen and elastase- were determined in all patients. RESULTS: Serum levels of the 5 enzymes studied were significantly higher in patients with pancreatic pain than in those studied during a clinical remission of the disease, and in those with non-pancreatic digestive diseases. In patients with chronic pancreatitis studied during clinical remission of the disease serum levels of pancreatic isoamylase and trypsinogen were significantly lower than in those patients with non-pancreatic digestive diseases. Considering only low serum concentrations of the five enzymes studied in diagnosing chronic pancreatitis, trypsinogen showed a sensitivity of 28%, specificity of 100%, a predictive value of a positive test of 100% and a predictive value of a negative test of 96.4%. In the 21 patients with severe pancreatic insufficiency, abnormally low serum concentrations of trypsinogen were found in 12 patients (57%), of lipase and elastase-1 in 6 (29%), of pancreatic isoamylase in 5 (24%), and of amylase in 3 (14%). CONCLUSIONS: Serum pancreatic enzymes can not be considered a useful tool to identify patients with pancreatic insufficiency. However, of the five enzymes studied, serum trypsinogen appears to be a useful marker in the diagnostic work-up of chronic pancreatitis.
Adult↗
Cisapride poisoning associated with negative T waves.
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Adult↗
Serum amyloid A, procalcitonin, and C-reactive protein in early assessment of severity of acute pancreatitis.
Amyloid A (SAA) and procalcitonin (PCT) have been reported as useful indicators of inflammation. Our aim was to assess the utility of SAA and PCT in establishing the severity of acute pancreatitis in comparison to C-reactive protein (CRP): Thirty-one patients with acute pancreatitis enrolled within 24 hr from the onset of pain and 31 healthy subjects were studied. Nineteen patients had mild acute pancreatitis, and 12 had severe pancreatitis. Serum SAA, PCT, and CRP were measured in all subjects at admission and, in acute pancreatitis patients, during the following five days. Patients with acute pancreatitis had serum concentrations of SAA, PCT, and CRP significantly higher (P < 0.001) than those of healthy subjects during the entire study period. Using cutoff values ranging from 240 to 250 mg/liter for SAA, from 0.252 to 0.255 ng/ml for PCT, and from 12.8 to 12.9 mg/dl for CRP, the sensitivity (calculated on patients with severe pancreatitis), the specificity (calculated on patients with mild pancreatitis), and the efficiency (calculated as the percentage of correct classifications) were 76.8%, 69.3%, and 72.4% for SAA; 21.7%, 83.2%, and 58.2% for PCT; and 60.9%, 89.1%, and 77.6% for CRP. In conclusion, the sensitivity of SAA is significantly higher than that of PCT and CRP in assessing the severity of pancreatitis, whereas PCT and CRP had a specificity significantly higher than SAA. The accuracy and efficiency were similar for SAA and CRP, and both these markers had an accuracy and efficiency significantly higher than those of PCT.
Acute Disease↗
Procalcitonin is not a reliable marker for the assessment of severity in acute pancreatitis without infectious complications.
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Acute Disease↗
Clinical usefulness of the serum carboxypeptidase B activation peptide in acute pancreatitis.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the sensitivity and specificity of the serum carboxypeptidase B activation peptide in diagnosing and determining the severity of acute pancreatitis. PATIENTS: Twenty consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis were studied on admission to the Emergency Room: 11 patients had mild pancreatitis, and 9 patients, severe pancreatitis. Twenty consecutive patients with non-pancreatic acute abdomen and 20 healthy subjects were also studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum carboxypeptidase B activation peptide was determined using radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Nineteen of the 20 patients with acute pancreatitis (95.0%) had serum carboxypeptidase B activation peptide concentrations above the upper reference limit, whereas 1 of the 20 patients with non-pancreatic acute abdomen (5.0%) and none of the healthy subjects had serum levels of this protein above the upper reference limit. The serum carboxypeptidase B activation peptide concentrations of patients with severe acute pancreatitis were significantly higher than those of patients with mild acute pancreatitis on the 2(nd) (P=0.044) and 3(rd) days (P=0.028) of the study. The overall sensitivity and specificity of carboxypeptidase B activation peptide in assessing the severity of acute pancreatitis were 84.6% and 59.4%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Serum carboxypeptidase B activation peptide may be used simultaneously both to diagnosis and assess the severity of acute pancreatitis on admission to the Emergency Room.
Acute Disease↗
Serum creatinine and chest radiographs in the early assessment of acute pancreatitis.
BACKGROUND: We previously identified serum creatinine values >2 mg/dL (176.8 micromol/L) and pathological chest radiographs due to the presence of pleural effusions or pulmonary densifications as two early prognostic factors of life-threatening acute pancreatitis (AP). The aim of the present study was to validate their prognostic efficacy in combination. METHODS: We analyzed as prognostic factors only the data obtained within 24 hours of admission in 539 cases of AP, including 163 patients (30.2%) with acute necrotizing pancreatitis (NP). Eleven patients (2%) presented with infected pancreatic necrosis, and 20 patients (3.7%) died. RESULTS: One hundred and nine cases (20.2%) presented pathological chest radiographs: 32 (5.9%) pulmonary densifications and 77 (14.3%) pleural effusions (18 right, 25 left, 34 bilateral). Fifty-one patients (9.5%) had serum creatinine values >2 mg/dL. Pathological chest radiographs and serum creatinine values >2 mg/dL were significantly associated both with mortality risk (P <0.00001), with a diagnosis of NP (P <0.00001), and with risk of developing infected necrosis (P <0.0001). Considering positivity of either or both tests, the mortality risk sensitivity was 90% (95% confidence interval [CI] 70.7 to 98.3) with a specificity of 76% (CI 72.5 to 79.8), for the NP diagnosis the sensitivity was 60% (CI 52.5 to 67.4) and the specificity 88% (CI 85.0-91.5), whereas for the risk of infected necrosis the sensitivity was 73% (CI 42.2 to 92.6) and specificity 75% (CI 70.1 to 78.4). These data are comparable to those obtained with the Ranson or Glasgow scores at 24 hour in this patient group, with a cut-off > or =3. CONCLUSIONS: Serum creatinine and chest radiographs are two indices capable of identifying, within 24 hour of admission, a subgroup of acute pancreatitis patients with a more severe or adverse clinical course.
Adult↗
Serum pancreatic enzyme concentrations in chronic viral liver diseases.
Serum amylase and lipase concentrations were determined in 78 patients with chronic liver diseases [26 chronic active hepatitis (CAH) and 52 liver cirrhosis] and in 15 healthy subjects. Pancreatic isoamylase concentrations and macroamylase complexes were assayed in hyperamylasemic sera. Serum amylase levels were abnormally elevated in 27 patients (35%; 22 liver cirrhosis, 5 CAH), whereas serum lipase levels were elevated in 16 patients (21%; 15 liver cirrhosis, 1 CAH). In 9 of the 27 hyperamylasemic patients, the hyperamylasemia was of pancreatic type. Macroamylasemic complexes were not detected in hyperamylasemic sera. Patients with liver cirrhosis had serum levels of amylase and lipase significantly higher than both the healthy subjects and the patients with CAH, while no significant differences were found in serum levels of these enzymes in patients with CAH as compared to the healthy subjects. A decreased liver metabolism of serum amylase and lipase in patients with chronic infective liver disease, especially in those having liver cirrhosis, may lead to an accumulation of these enzymes in the blood.
Adolescent↗
Fecal elastase 1 determination in chronic pancreatitis.
This study assessed the diagnostic accuracy of fecal elastase 1 in chronic pancreatitis. Fifty-three healthy subjects, 44 patients with chronic pancreatitis (22 severe, 13 moderate, and 9 mild), and 43 patients with nonpancreatic digestive disease were studied. Elastase 1 concentration was determined on a small sample of feces using a commercially available kit. Fecal chymotrypsin was also measured. With a cutoff level of 190 microg/g, all healthy controls except one (98.1%), and the majority of patients with nonpancreatic digestive diseases (40 of 43; 93.0%) had elastase values above this limit. Among the 44 patients with chronic pancreatitis, 34 (77.3%) had pathological values: all 22 (100%) with severe disease, 10 of 13 (76.9%) with moderate disease and 2 of 9 (22.2%) with mild disease. Chymotrypsin values were pathological in 25 of 44 (56.8%) patients with chronic pancreatitis: 17 of 22 (77.2%) with severe pancreatitis, 7 of 13 (53.8%) with moderate pancreatitis, and 1 of 9 (11.1%) with mild disease. The specificity was 95.8% for elastase 1 and 85.4% for chymotrypsin. The difference both in sensitivity and specificity of the two enzymes was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Fecal elastase 1 has a high sensitivity, superior to that of fecal chymotrypsin, in the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. For its simplicity and rapidity, it could represent the tubeless test of choice in chronic pancreatitis.
Adolescent↗
Rhabdomyolysis and acute pancreatitis.
AIMS: To establish the incidence of rhabdomyolysis in patients with acute pancreatitis and to determine the effectiveness of myoglobin in assessing the severity of the disease. METHODS: Sixty-one patients having acute pancreatitis (33 males, 28 females, mean age 66 years, range 16-97 years) were studied; diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was based on the typical abdominal pain associated with elevated concentrations of serum lipase and further confirmed by imaging techniques. Rhabdomyolysis was defined as a level of serum myoglobin which is two or more times greater than the upper normal test limit. All patients had normal renal function at the time of the study, none had clinical and/or electrocardiographic signs of acute myocardial infarction and none were drug addicts. Forty-five patients had mild acute pancreatitis and 16 had the severe form of the disease. Serum myoglobin was determined using a nephelometric technique. RESULTS: Patients with mild pancreatitis had serum concentrations of myoglobin (median and range; 35.7, 24-713 microg/L) similar to those with severe pancreatitis (26.8, 24-710 microg/L). Twelve of the 61 patients with acute pancreatitis (20%) had serum myoglobin concentrations above the upper normal limit: eight of the 45 patients with mild pancreatitis (17.7%) and four of the 16 patients with severe pancreatitis (25.0%). Four of the 61 patients with acute pancreatitis (7%) had serum myoglobin levels more than twice the upper normal limit: two with mild disease and two with the severe form of pancreatitis. CONCLUSIONS: Rhabdomyolysis may occur asymptomatically in patients with acute pancreatitis, especially in those with the severe form of the disease. Serum myoglobin determination is not useful in establishing the severity of acute pancreatitis.
Acute Disease↗
Behavior of serum interleukin 12 in human acute pancreatitis.
We evaluated the behavior of sera interleukin p70 (IL-12p70) and IL-12p40 in patients with acute pancreatitis. Twenty-three acute pancreatitis patients were studied (12 had severe pancreatitis and 11 had mild pancreatitis). Twenty healthy subjects were studied as controls. Serum concentrations of total IL-12, IL-12p70, IL-12p40, and IL-6 were determined in all subjects on admission to the hospital; in patients with acute pancreatitis, the serum levels of these molecules also were determined for the 5 days after admission. Acute pancreatitis patients had serum concentrations of total IL-12, IL-12p40, and IL-6 significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those of the healthy subjects from the first to the sixth day of the study; serum concentrations of IL-12p70 were significantly higher in acute pancreatitis patients (p < 0.02) than in the healthy subjects on the first of the disease and significantly lower (p < 0.05) on the second, third, and fourth days of illness. Reduction of IL-12p70 in acute pancreatitis patients was not due to a failure of the monocytes because the production of IL-6 was increased. Increased amounts of IL-12p40 in acute pancreatitis patients may be responsible for their increased susceptibility to infection.
Acute Disease↗
Ultrasonographic evaluation of the common bile duct in biliary acute pancreatitis patients: comparison with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.
We compared the morphologic findings of the common bile duct by ultrasonography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in patients with biliary acute pancreatitis. Forty-five patients were studied. The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was based on the presence of characteristic abdominal pain associated with an elevation of serum amylase and lipase concentrations. All patients underwent ultrasonography and subsequently urgent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and eventually endoscopic sphincterotomy. Ultrasonography showed gallstones in 33 patients and sludge of the gallbladder in seven patients. In the common bile duct, lithiasis was found in two patients and sludge in 25. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography showed choledocolithiasis in eight patients and sludge of the common bile duct in 32. In 27 cases (60%) concordance occurred between ultrasonographic and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatographic detection of lithiasis or sludge of the common bile duct. The average diameter of the common bile duct determined by sonography was significantly smaller (P < 0.001) than that obtained by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. The evaluation of this parameter indicated that a good correlation existed between the values obtained with the two techniques (r(s) = 0.765, P < 0.001). Both ultrasonography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography can provide reliable measurements of the common bile duct diameter. Ultrasonography is the technique of choice in the initial investigation of patients with biliary acute pancreatitis.
Acute Disease↗
The use of the peripheral leukocyte count and chest X-rays in early assessment of the severity of acute pancreatitis in comparison with the Ranson score system.
BACKGROUND: To evaluate the efficacy of the peripheral leukocyte count and chest X-rays as an index which could be used in the early assessment of the severity of acute pancreatitis in an Emergency Room. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated the peripheral leukocyte count and the findings of chest X-rays in 181 consecutive patients (102 males, 79 females, mean age 61 years, range 16-97) who were admitted to our Emergency Department with acute pancreatitis. One hundred twenty six patients had mild pancreatitis and 55 had severe pancreatitis. The peripheral leukocyte count and the chest X-rays were evaluated in all patients upon admission. The Ranson criteria were also assessed. RESULTS: Using a cut off value of 13,000/mm3, 45% of the patients with severe pancreatitis and 17% of those with mild acute pancreatitis had a peripheral leukocyte count greater than 13,000/mm3. Pleural or pulmonary alterations observed on chest X-ray were found in 66% of patients with severe pancreatitis and in 2% of those with mild acute pancreatitis. A peripheral leukocyte count greater than 13,000/mm3 and/or pleural or pulmonary alterations present on chest X-ray were found in 78% of the patients with severe pancreatitis and in 19% of those with mild pancreatitis. The Ranson criteria greater than or equal to three were found in 45% of the patients with severe acute pancreatitis and in 16% of those with the mild form of the disease. The positive predictive value was 92% for the presence of alterations on the chest X-rays, 64% for the alteration of at least one of the abnormal findings on the chest X-ray and a peripheral leukocyte count greater than 13,000/mm3, 56% for a peripheral leukocyte count greater than 13,000/mm3, and 54% for the presence of Ranson criteria greater than or equal to three. The negative predictive values were similar. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of pleural or pulmonary alterations on chest X-rays may be useful in the Emergency Room for the early identification of patients with severe acute pancreatitis.
Acute Disease↗
Electrocardiographic abnormalities in acute pancreatitis.
It has been reported that electrocardiographic abnormalities may be associated with acute pancreatitis. However, the data are lacking or sketchy. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency and type of electrocardiographic abnormalities present in patients with acute pancreatitis. Fifty-six consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis and without previous history of heart disease were studied. Eleven patients had arterial hypertension. Forty-one patients had mild pancreatitis and 15 had the severe form of the disease. On admission, all patients underwent a standard 12-leads electrocardiogram and a serum electrolyte determination. Nineteen healthy subjects were also studied as controls. Twenty-seven patients (48.2%) (10 with severe pancreatitis and 17 with mild pancreatitis) had a normal electrocardiogram. In the remaining 29 patients (51.8%), one patient with severe pancreatitis had atrial extrasystoles and eight had bradycardia (less than 60 beats/minute) (two with severe pancreatitis and six with mild pancreatitis); 14 patients had changes of the T-wave and/or the ST-segment (two with severe pancreatitis and 12 with mild pancreatitis); seven patients showed disturbances of the intraventricular conduction (one with severe pancreatitis and six with mild pancreatitis): four had left anterior hemiblock, two had complete left bundle branch block and one had left anterior hemiblock and incomplete right bundle branch block; one patient with mild pancreatitis had atrioventricular block (first degree). No differences in heart rate, RR interval, PR interval and QT interval were found when patients with acute pancreatitis were compared with healthy subjects, nor when patients with severe pancreatitis were compared with those having the mild form of the disease. Seventeen of the 29 patients with electrocardiographic abnormalities (52.6%) also had serum electrolyte alterations. More than 50% of the patients with acute pancreatitis had electrocardiographic abnormalities and electrolyte alterations were also present in about one-half of these.
Acute Disease↗
Simultaneous serum assays of lipase and interleukin-6 for early diagnosis and prognosis of acute pancreatitis.
BACKGROUND: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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, <3.7 microgram/L) had a sensitivity of 100% (15 of 15) and a specificity of 83% (20 of 24); 75 of 80 (94%) patients were classified correctly. C-reactive protein (cutoff values ranging from 6 to 7 mg/L) showed a lower prognostic efficiency than interleukin-6: sensitivity of 87% (13 of 15) and specificity of 46% (11 of 24). Sixty-four of 80 patients (80%) were classified correctly. The area under the ROC curve for interleukin-6 (0.911 +/- 0.049) was significantly (P = 0.013) greater than that for C-reactive protein (0.685 +/- 0.090). CONCLUSION: The combined use of serum lipase and interleukin-6 is useful in simultaneously establishing both the diagnosis and the prognosis of acute pancreatitis.
Acute Disease↗
Serum prostate-specific antigen in pancreatic disease.
BACKGROUND: Prostate-specific antigen has been considered a specific and sensitive marker of prostate cancer. In recent years, it has been reported that prostate-specific antigen may also be found in pancreatic tissue; however, very little evidence of serum levels of this protein in pancreatic disease has been forthcoming. AIMS: To explore the possibility that pancreatic diseases may influence both total and free serum prostate-specific antigen. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 72 females were studied: 44 patients with acute pancreatitis: 6 with chronic pancreatitis: 12 with pancreatic carcinoma and 10 healthy volunteers. Total and free serum prostate-specific antigen were measured using commercial kits. RESULTS: In patients with acute pancreatitis, total and free serum prostate-specific antigen were detectable in two out of the 44 patients (5%). In patients with chronic pancreatitis, total and free serum prostate-specific antigen were undetectable, whereas 4 out of the 12 patients (33%) with pancreatic carcinoma had detectable serum levels of total and free prostate-specific antigen. CONCLUSIONS: Female patients with acute pancreatitis and especially those with pancreatic cancer may have detectable serum levels of total and free prostate-specific antigen. Further studies are necessary to understand why these molecules are elevated in patients with pancreatic diseases, thus affecting the specificity of prostate-specific antigen determination as a prostate tumour marker.
Acute Disease↗
Management of acute pancreatitis in clinical practice. ProInf - A.I.S.P. Study Group. Progetto Informatizzato Pancreatite Acuta--Associazione Italiana Studio Pancreas.
Over the last few years, remarkable progress has been made in diagnosis, severity assessment and treatment as well as in our understanding of the pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis. New treatment modalities and new specific drugs have been introduced and this has led to practical changes in the daily bedside management of patients with acute pancreatitis. Treatment is essentially medical, both for mild and severe disease, and is aimed at reducing abdominal pain, restoring electrolyte and fluid losses, removing the aetiological factor(s), attenuating inflammation and autodigestive processes, as well as preventing local and systemic complications. Diagnostic and interventional percutaneous or endoscopic procedures are indicated mainly for patients with severe forms of the disease. Surgery is generally indicated for patients with necrosis infection or other local complications not manageable by percutaneous or endoscopic means.
Acute Disease↗
Lipase-amylase ratio does not determine the etiology of acute pancreatitis. Another myth bites the dust.
We examined the feasibility of the lipase-amylase (L/A) ratio to differentiate alcoholic from nonalcoholic acute pancreatitis in a large prospective series of patients with acute pancreatitis. One hundred fifty-eight consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis were studied. The pancreatitis was of biliary origin in 112 patients, due to alcohol abuse in 26, due to other causes in 8, and of unknown origin in 12. For all patients, serum, amylase, and lipase levels were determined simultaneously, and the L/A ratio was calculated using the amylase and lipase serum levels expressed as multiples of the respective upper normal limit. The ratios in patients with alcoholic acute pancreatitis ranged from 0.3 to 8 and in patients with nonalcoholic acute pancreatitis from 0 to 19.9. A value of 2.2 for the serum L/A ratio was found to be the best cutoff value for differentiating alcoholic from nonalcoholic acute pancreatitis. Using this limit, the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of the L/A ratio in determining the alcoholic form of acute pancreatitis were 54%, 82%, and 77% respectively. Our study showed that the L/A ratio is not useful in distinguishing alcoholic from nonalcoholic acute pancreatitis.
Acute Disease↗