[Amylase test in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis]

The determination of serum and urinary amylase are methods used in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis, however there are many abdominal problems that can cause hyperamylasemia, in the absence of pancreatic disease, for this reason in 1969 Levitt and col. signaled the possible advantages of amylase/creatinine clearence ratio, in the clinical diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. This test was used in cases with acute pancreatitis, as in other diseases, in correlation with levels in normal subjects, with the objective of evaluating its clinica utility, in relation to the formentioned paragraph. Results concluded that the amylase/creatinine ratio is not of greater diagnostic utility than the determination of urinary amylase, in acute pancreatitis.