Korean J Clin Pathol.  1997 Dec;17(6):1012-1021.

Usefulness of Lipase Test for the Diagnosis of Acute Pancreatitis

• Park IK
• Kang JO
• Kim HS
• Park DW

Abstract

BACKGROUND: It is understood that amylase is poor and lipase is a little better than amylase in specificity for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. But we recognized that the general knowledge was resulted from the study of inappropriate design of some researchers. So, we tried to find out the true diagnostic value of amylase and lipase by the study of appropriate design, and with the above result, evaluated the usefulness of lipase as a diagnostic test for acute pancreatitis.
METHODS
We reviewed the serum levels of the amylase and lipase in 33 patients complaining acute abdominal pain diagnosed as acute pancreatitis by image study (computed tomography, ultrasonography) , and in the 134 patients of control group who, with abdominal pain, were diagnosed finally as non-pancreatic disease at discharge after admission and treatment. Serum amylase and lipase activity were measured by aca IVTM (Chiron Inc.).
RESULTS
The sensitivity of amylase and lipase for the diagnosis of acute pan creatitis was 81.8% and 87.8%, respectively. The specificity of amylase and lipase for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was 92.5% and 86.5%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity was 84.6% and 96.3% respectively, when two enzymes were combined by 'and' strategy. The lipase activity remained elevated longer than the amylase in acute pancreatitis.
CONCLUSIONS
On the contrary of the general knowledge, sensitivities and specificities of the amylase and lipase were fairy high and didn't show big dirt ferences between two enzymes. Though only one of the two enzymes could be selected for the diagnosis of acute Pancreatitis, using both of the enzymes increased the specificity, and lipase was useful to detect the patient who came to hospital a few days later after the onset of symptom.

MeSH Terms

Abdominal Pain
Amylases
Diagnosis*
Diagnostic Tests, Routine
Humans
Lipase*
Pancreatitis*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Amylases
Lipase