Diagnostic Value of Plasma Amylase, especially after Gastrectomy

Abstract

The plasma-amylase level is almost invariably raised at the height of an attack of acute pancreatitis. However, the diag- nostic value of this is limited by the occasional finding of .qually high levels in patients with acute abdominal conditions which are not primarily acute pancreatitis. In our experience such " false-positive " findings have been commonly associated with a history of gastrectomy. In order to study this relation- ship we have reviewed, for the 10-year period January 1952 to December 1961, the 119 patients whose plasma-amylase levels were found to be above 1,000 units (Somogyi)/100 ml. Of these, 113 had acute abdominal symptoms resembling those of acute pancreatitis.