Macroamylasemia in a patient with acute appendicitis: A case report

Macroamylasemia is a condition of persistent, elevated serum amylase activi ty with no apparent clinical symptoms of a pancreatic disorder. In Korea, h owever, no such case has been reported to date. We report a case of a 17-ye ar-old female diagnosed with macroamylasemia and acute appendicitis. One da y earlier, she developed epigastric and right lower quadrant abdominal pain . She was characterized by high level of serum amylase, but normal lipase. Amylase isoenzyme analysis demonstrated increased fraction of salivary type and followup amylase level was persistently increased. Immunofixation disc losed the macroamylase binding with an immunoglobulin, consisting of IgA an d kappa chain. The patient was treated by appendectomy, and the abdominal p ain subsided.