[Oral pancreas function test with FDL in the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis]

The diagnostic accuracy of a tubeless pancreatic function test--Pancreolauryl (PLT)--was evaluated on 97 patients and healthy controls: we found a pathological result of PLT in 31 (88.6%) of 35 patients with proven chronic pancreatitis and a normal PLT in 30 (90%) of 33 controls with no pancreatic disease. In 29 patients with a defined gastrointestinal disease other than chronic pancreatitis the test result was pathological in 51%. This result points towards a limited specificity of the PLT in this latter group, but shows its usefulness as an indicator for maldigestion accompanying the primary disease. In comparison to firmly established diagnostic means for chronic pancreatitis the PLT result was in accordance with the Secretin-Ceruletide function test in 81.3% with ERCP in 80.9% and with computertomography in 76.4%.