[Early diagnosis and staging of acute pancreatitis using computed tomography]

In 108 patients with acute pancreatitis, the CT findings were correlated with pathological staging; in 63 the diagnosis had been confirmed at operation and in 45 it was made on clinical grounds. CT differentiation between interstitial and necrotizing pancreatitis had a sensitivity of 0.87 and specificity of 1.0. In addition, exact estimation of the extent of intrapancreatic necrosis was possible. This high accuracy makes CT the method of choice for the early diagnosis and staging of acute pancreatitis.