New prognostic markers for outcome of acute pancreatitis: overview of reporting in 184 studies.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to assess the reporting of studies on new prognostic markers of outcome in acute pancreatitis.

METHODS

We used MEDLINE searches complemented with perusal of review articles' references to identify eligible English-language studies. We included studies evaluating nonroutine markers for acute pancreatitis. Eligible outcomes included Atlanta criteria, Japanese criteria for severity, multiple/single organ failure, complications, interventional treatment, hospitalization length, and death. We generated a 47-item checklist on Acute Pancreatitis Prognosis by adapting a previously constructed reporting guidance instrument for prognostic tumor markers (REMARK [Reporting Recommendations for Tumor Marker Prognostic Studies]). The checklist addresses the reporting of essential information in prognostic studies.

RESULTS

The 184 identified eligible studies reported on 196 different prognostic markers. One hundred forty-four studies (78.3%) found at least 1 prognostic marker to be nominally statistically significant. Significant improvements over time were seen in the reporting for 17 items, but major deficiencies were noted even in 2004-2009 studies. Particularly, 12 items were reported in less than 10% of studies overall and even within the most recent studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite some improvements over time, the reporting of important aspects of prognostic studies in acute pancreatitis remains suboptimal. The proposed REMARK-based checklist may help improve the quality and reporting of research in this field.