R. Pezzilli et al., Time-course and clinical value of the urine trypsinogen-2 dipstick test inacute pancreatitis, EUR J GASTR, 13(3), 2001, pp. 269-274
Objective Urine trypsinogen-2 has been suggested as a marker of damage due
to acute pancreatitis. Our aim was to assess the time-course and the clinic
al value of this test in acute pancreatitis.
Methods A urine trypsinogen-2 dipstick test was performed on 30 patients wi
th acute pancreatitis upon admission to the emergency room, as well as on 3
0 patients with non-pancreatic acute abdominal pain, and in 30 healthy subj
ects.
Results In 53.3% of the patients with acute pancreatitis the dipstick test
showed abnormal urine trypsinogen-2 whereas this test gave negative results
in all patients with non-pancreatic acute abdomen and in all healthy subje
cts. Patients with severe acute pancreatitis had a frequency of abnormal re
sults of urine trypsinogen-2 (8/9, 88.9%; 95% CI, 51.8-99.7%) significantly
higher (P = 0.031) than those with the mild disease (8/21, 38.1%; 95% CI,
18.1-61.6%), while no significant differences were found in the urine tryps
inogen-2 results between patients with biliary acute pancreatitis and those
with non-biliary acute pancreatitis. Regarding the time-course of urine tr
ypsinogen-2, there were no significant differences during the three days of
the study.
Conclusions The specificity of urine trypsinogen-2 in the diagnosis of acut
e pancreatitis is good however its sensitivity is low. Eur J Gastroenterol
Hepatol 13:269-274 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.