The Prognostic Value of Serum Amylase in Patients with Paraquat Poisoning: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

The objective was to assess whether amylase (AMY) and other laboratory parameters have a prognostic value for patients with Paraquat (PQ) poisoning.

Standard mean difference and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to compare the endpoints.

In total, 17 studies comprising 1673 patients were enrolled, 731 patients (43.69%) were defined as survivors, while 942 patients (56.31%) were considered non-survivors. The levels of AMY and plasma PQ were significantly higher in non-survivors when compared to subjects in the survival group. The white blood cell count, concentration of C-reactive protein, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, alanine aminotransferase and asparagine transaminase were significantly increased in the non-survivor group, while serum potassium, pH and PaCO2 were decreased in the non-survivor group. In addition, PaO2 values were similar between the two groups. Notably, heterogeneity was a key feature across the analyses: most primary and secondary prognostic indicators exhibited high to extreme heterogeneity (I² range: 0.0%-96.7%), with the highest heterogeneity observed for CRP (I²=96.7%) and PaO2 (I²=90.1%).

A lower level of AMY and plasma PQ in poisoning patients might have a good prognosis value.