[1,000 pancreolauryl tests: evaluation of sensitivity, specificity and use in clinical routine]

1115 examinations with the Pancreolauryl-Test (PLT) were carried out and assessed on 918 non-selected patients with various gastro-enterologic diseases. Depending on the severity of the exocrine insufficiency, sensitivity varied in confirmed chronic pancreatitis (n = 54). Overall sensitivity was 69%, in chronic pancreatitis with steatorrhoe 100%, and 54% in moderate insufficiency. In all patients not suffering from pancreatic diseases (n = 789) specificity was 77%. Since the PLT was frequently pathological in patients with subtotal gastrectomy (gastric resection) and active peptic lesion, specificity was also determined excluding these cases (29% of all patients without pancreatic disease). This resulted in a specificity of 86%. Gastric hyperacidity should be taken into consideration as a possible source of errors (for example, in the condition following an ulcer). Age, weight and alcohol consumption as well as diseases of the bile duct and liver, had no influence on specificity. Urine collection errors, occurring in 10% of the patients investigated, could be avoided by determination of fluorescein in the serum. Our results from a series of examinations on non-selected patients with a 6% prevalence of chronic pancreatitis indicated that PLT is likely to increase predictive value in selected application. If the oesophagus-gastro-duodenoscopy is non-pathological but the PLT gives a pathological result, further pancreatic investigative procedures should be carried out.