[Serum lipase activity and endoscopic retrograde pancreatography in chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic neoplasm (author's transl)].

Serum lipase activity was measured in 360 patients with the clinical suspicion of chronic pancreatic disease, 60 of them also having the lipase evocation test (serum lipase activity before and after pancreatic stimulation with secretin and pancreozymin). Of 48 with chronic pancreatitis (40 confirmed at operation) the diagnosis was made by endoscopic retrograde pancretography in all but one. Serum lipase activity was abnormal in 38. Without those cases associated with pancreatic insufficency, serum lipase activity-spontaneously and after the evocation test-was abnormal in 46 patients. Nine of 10 patients with papillary stenosis had the diagnosis confirmed at surgery, the pancretographic findings co-inciding with the surgical ones in all instances. All the five patients with abnormally high serum lipase activity also had chronic pancreatitis on pancreatography. In all of the 18 patients with pancreatic neoplasm pancreatography gave the same results as operation or post-mortem findings. In eight of these serum lipase activity was spontaneously elevated. The lipase evocation test was shown to be most effective if 2 C.H.R.- U/KG-h each of pancreozymin and secretin were administered. Serum lipase results were falsely positive in 17 of 300 patients with clinical suspicion of pancreatic disease but normal pancreatographic findings.