RESUMO
Objective To investigate the clinical significance of changes of serum amylase, CRP and SAA in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. Methods The levels of serum and urine amylase, CRP and SAA in patients of mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) and severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and the seventh day after the onset of pancreatitis were measured. Results The levels of serum, urine amylase, CRP and SAA in SAP patients at 24h were (904.5±402.2)U/L, (2280.3±1207.3)U/L, (155.6±36.2) mg/L, (521.9±109.4)mg/L, respectively, and significantly higher than those of MAP patients (P＜0.05 or P＜0.001). The peak value of serum amylase appeared at 24h, however, the peak value of urine amylase, CRP and SAA appeared at 48 h, and the corresponding values were (2173.5±1110.6) U/L, (185.3±41.4) mg/L and (717.5±144.2)mg/L, respectively. The levels of serum and urine amylase significantly decreases in MAP and SAP patients at the seventh day (P＜0.05). The levels of serum CRP and SAA significantly decreased in MAP patients at the seventh day (P＜0.05), however, the levels of serum CRP and SAA did not significantly decrease in SAP patients at the seventh day (P＞0.05). Serum levels of CRP and SAA were related to the severity of acute pancreatitis. Meanwhile CRP showed a positive correlation with SAA (r = 0.761, P＜0.05). Conclusions The change of serum levels of amylase, CRP and SAA can help early diagnose acute pancreatitis; CRP and SAA may predict the development of SAP at early stage.