[Comparison of 2 pancreatic enzyme preparations in the treatment of digestive insufficiency in mucoviscidosis (cystic fibrosis)].

In an open trial 10 patients with cystic fibrosis were treated with two acid-protected pancreatic enzyme preparations formed as microtablets or pellets. The difference between Panzytrat 20,000 and Kreon is that with only 225 mg pancreatin, the former has twice the lipase activity of the latter. Therefore, the patients who had been taken Kreon were given only half the number of Panzytrat 20,000 capsules. There were no significant differences seen between the amounts of fecal fat nor in the fecal weight. In our study the fat absorption coefficient was somewhat too low with 67.4% for Kreon and 71.3% for Panzytrat 20,000 because of too low enzyme dosage, which was based only on an improvement of the clinical symptoms. Therefore, we would recommend a higher dose of 1000-1500 units of lipase/l g of dietary fat ingested. This requires the use of a preparation with high enzyme activity.