1Departments of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea 2Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Background/Aims: Recently, fecal pancreatic elastase-1 assay was characterized as a another option for more accurate indirect pancreatic function tests in chronic pancreatitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical role of fecal pancreatic elastase-1 assay in patients with chronic pancreatitis. Methods: Fecal pancreatic elastase-1 was assayed in 16 patients with chronic pancreatitis. Nine healthy voluteers were studied as normal controls. We catagorized patients with chronic pancreatitis into two groups, mild/moderate (n=5) and severe (n=11), based on Cambridge grading by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and the presence (n=7) or absence (n=9) of diabetes mellitus as a complication of chronic pancreatitis. Results: There was no difference for fecal elastase-1 between patients and controls. However, the fecal elastase-1 values in patients with severe chronic pancreatitis had a tendency to reduce than those in mild/moderate group although there was no statistically significant correlation. Furthermore, patients with diabetes mellitus as a complication of chronic pancreatitis showed lower fecal elastase-1 values, wherase those without diabetes mellitus did not. No association was found between reduced fecal elastase-1 and the etiology of chronic pancreatitis. Conclusion: Fecal elastase-1 concentrations were reduced in patients with severe chronic pancreatitis or diabetes mellitus as a complication of chronic pancreatitis.
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