[The PABA test in chronic pancreatitis: value of plasma para-amino benzoic acid determinations (author's transl)].

Plasma concentrations and urinary excretion of para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) were measured over a 6-hour period after administration of N-benzoil L-tyrosyl aminobenzoic acid (NBT-PABA) to 15 patients with chronic pancreatitis and 15 controls. The sum of plasma PABA concentrations at 1 hour and 2 hours was calculated for each subject. The resulting value proved to have a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 80%, as opposed to 86% and 67% respectively for urinary concentrations.