Macroamylasemia

Abstract

THE clinical conditions generally considered when serum amylase is found to be elevated are those that either increase the amount of amylase entering the plasma or alter renal function and thereby impair urinary excretion of the enzyme.1 In 1964 Wilding, Cooke and Nicholson2 demonstrated that elevated amylolytic activity could also result from the formation of an amylase-globulin complex that was too large to be readily excreted by the kidneys. This communication is concerned with observations made in 3 patients with persistent hyperamylasemia of previously unexplained cause. In each of these patients the major portion of the serum amylase was shown . . .