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Background: Respiratory failure worsens the outcome of acute pancreatitis (AP) and underlying factors might be early detectable., Aims: To evaluate the prevalence and prognostic relevance of early pleuropulmonary pathologies and pre-existing chronic lung diseases (CLD) in AP patients., Methods: Multicentre retrospective cohort study. Caudal sections of the thorax derived from abdominal contrast enhanced computed tomography (CECT) performed in the early phase of AP were assessed. Independent predictors of severe AP were identified by binary logistic regression analysis. A one-year survival analysis using Kaplan-Meier curves and log rank test was performed., Results: 358 patients were analysed, finding pleuropulmonary pathologies in 81%. CECTs were performed with a median of 2 days (IQR 1-3) after admission. Multivariable analysis identified moderate to severe or bilateral pleural effusions (PEs) (OR = 4.16, 95%CI 2.05-8.45, p<0.001) and pre-existing CLD (OR = 2.93, 95%CI 1.17-7.32, p = 0.022) as independent predictors of severe AP. Log rank test showed a significantly worse one-year survival in patients with bilateral compared to unilateral PEs in a subgroup., Conclusions: Increasing awareness of the prognostic impact of large and bilateral PEs and pre-existing CLD could facilitate the identification of patients at high risk for severe AP in the early phase and thus improve their prognosis., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Most patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) experience mild, self-limiting disease with little or no need for hospital care. However, 20-25% of patients develop a more severe and potentially life-threatening condition with progressive systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and multiorgan failure, resulting in high morbidity and mortality rates. Predicting disease severity at an early stage is important, as immediate supportive care has been demonstrated to reduce the incidence of SIRS and organ failure, improving patient outcome. Several studies have demonstrated elevated levels of heparin-binding protein (HBP) in patients with sepsis and septic shock, and HBP is believed to play a part in endothelial dysfunction leading to vascular leakage. As HBP levels increase prior to other known biomarkers, HBP has emerged as a promising early predictor of severe sepsis with organ dysfunction., Methods: Patients admitted to Skåne University Hospital in Malmö between 2010 and 2013 fulfilling the criteria for AP were identified in the emergency department and prospectively enrolled in this study. The primary outcome was measured levels of HBP upon hospital admission in patients with confirmed AP. Correlations among HBP concentrations, disease severity and fluid balance were considered secondary endpoints. The correlation between HBP levels and fluid balance were analysed using Pearson correlation, and the ability of HBP to predict moderately severe/severe AP was assessed using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve., Results: The overall median HBP level in this study was 529 (307-898) ng/ml. There were no significant group differences in HBP levels based on AP severity. Fluid balance differed significantly between patients with mild versus moderately severe and severe pancreatitis, but we found no correlation between HBP concentration and fluid balance., Conclusions: HBP levels are dramatically increased in patients with AP, and these levels far exceed those previously reported in other conditions. In this study, we did not observe any significant correlation between HBP levels and disease severity or the need for intravenous fluid. Additional studies on HBP are needed to further explore the role of HBP in the pathogenesis of AP and its possible clinical implications., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Clinical reports on early immune dysregulation in acute pancreatitis (AP) are scarce. Herein we investigate the initial temporal development of selected biomarkers. Blood samples were taken at 0-24 and 25-48 h after onsets of AP were acquired. Mean values and temporal intermediate difference (delta-values) of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-γ and TNF-α were calculated. Differences between severity groups, predictive capacity of the biomarkers and association with severe disease were analyzed. Paired comparison of samples (n = 115) taken at 0-24 and 25-48 h after onsets of AP showed a change over time for IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 ( p < 0.05) and a significant difference between severity groups after 24 h. In ROC-analysis an IL-6 cut-off level of 196.6 pg/mL could differentiate severe AP (sensitivity 81.9, specificity 91.3). The delta-values of IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly associated with severe outcomes (odds ratios 1.085 and 1.002, respectively). Data of this work demonstrate a distinct change in IL-1β, IL-8, IL-10 and IL-6 over the first 48 h after onset of AP. The temporal development of biomarkers can assist in the early stratification of the disease. Herein IL-1β and IL-6 were associated with severe disease, however the prognostic capacity of investigated biomarkers is low.

Background: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a frequent disorder with considerable morbidity and mortality. Obesity has previously been reported to influence disease severity., Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of adipose and muscle parameters with the severity grade of AP., Methods: In total 454 patients were recruited. The first contrast-enhanced computed tomography of each patient was reviewed for adipose and muscle tissue parameters at L3 level. Associations with disease severity were analysed through logistic regression analysis. The predictive capacity of the parameters was investigated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves., Results: No distinct variation was found between the AP severity groups in either adipose tissue parameters (visceral adipose tissue and subcutaneous adipose tissue) or visceral muscle ratio. However, muscle mass and mean muscle attenuation differed significantly with p -values of 0.037 and 0.003 respectively. In multivariate analysis, low muscle attenuation was associated with severe AP with an odds ratio of 4.09 (95% confidence intervals: 1.61-10.36, p -value 0.003). No body parameter presented sufficient predictive capability in ROC-curve analysis., Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that a low muscle attenuation level is associated with an increased risk of severe AP. Future prospective studies will help identify the underlying mechanisms and characterise the influence of body composition parameters on AP., (© Author(s) 2019.)

In the 20th century early management of acute pancreatitis often included surgical intervention, despite overwhelming mortality. The emergence of high-quality evidence (randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses) over the past two decades has notably shifted the treatment paradigm towards predominantly non-surgical management early in the course of acute pancreatitis. The present evidence-based review focuses on contemporary aspects of early management (which include analgesia, fluid resuscitation, antibiotics, nutrition, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) with a view to providing clear and succinct guidelines on early management of patients with acute pancreatitis in 2017 and beyond., (Copyright © 2017 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Early prediction of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) substantially improves treatment of patients. A large amount of biomarkers have been studied with this objective. The aim of this work was to study predictive biomarkers using preset cut-off levels in an unselected population of patients with acute pancreatitis (AP)., Methods: 232 patients (52.2% males, median age 66 years) with AP admitted to Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, were consecutively enrolled. Blood samples were collected upon admission and clinical data were gathered both prospectively at inclusion and through review of medical notes. Cut-off levels were defined based on the reports of prior studies, and through their results eight biomarkers (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, MCP-1, procalcitonin and D-dimer) were selected for analysis., Results: Of the patients, 83.2% had mild AP and 16.8% had SAP. Levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 were significantly (p < 0.05) higher upon admission in the group with SAP. When applying the preset cut-off levels on our material, sensitivity and specificity for prediction of severity were low. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that selected cut-off levels were acceptable, but areas under the curves were inferior compared to other studies. The results did not improve when using the revised Atlanta 2012 classification., Conclusions: Previous studies on severity prediction of AP are difficult to compare due to large variations in setups and outcomes. Calculated cut-offs in our cohort were in acceptable range from preset levels, however areas under the curves were low, indicating suboptimal biomarkers for the unselected population investigated. For comparable results and possible clinical implementations, future studies need large consecutive series with a reasonable percentage of severe cases. Additionally, novel biomarkers need to be explored., (© 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.)