[Computer tomography and interventional radiologic methods in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis]

The authors supervised the case record of 51 patients admitted between 1994 January and 1996 March suffering from acute pancreatitis. Diagnosis was made upon clinical signs, laboratory findings, abdominal ultrasound and CT examinations. In total 121 CT examinations were made mostly by using contrast material. Patients were classified with the help of Balthazar's grade. The authors emphasize that CT currently is the most accurate single imaging modality for diagnosis, staging the severity of the inflammatory process, and detecting complications of acute pancreatitis. They suggest that the first CT examination should be done within 3 days from the onset of the illness. In cases falling under group "C", "D" or "E" of Balthazar's grade, the CT examination should at least be repeated within 10 days. With 6 patients in septic state the bacteriological findings gained by fine needle aspiration was of great value for the further treatment.