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.