[Clinical evaluation of serum elastase-1 levels in patients with acute pancreatitis]

The prospective examination and quantitative determination of concentration of serum elastase 1 using RIA method were performed in 75 patients with pancreatic diseases at the Clinic of General and Vascular Surgery and the Institute of Nuclear Medicine of the M.M.A. in the period 1988-1989. The values of serum elastase 1 concentration were compared with values of amylase in serum and urine. The greater diagnostical importance of serum elastase 1 was found compared to values of amylase in serum and urine, not only in patients with acute pancreatitis but also in exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis. The level of serum elastase 1 concentration enables more reliable follow up of the evolution of the disease and therapeutical effects in patients with acute pancreatitis.