Extrapancreatic necrosis volume: A new tool in acute pancreatitis severity assessment?

Bogdan Cucuteanu; Dragoş Negru; Otilia Gavrilescu; Iolanda Valentina Popa; Mariana Floria; Cătălina Mihai; Cristina Cijevschi Prelipcean; Mihaela Dranga

doi:10.12998/wjcc.v9.i31.9395

Extrapancreatic necrosis volume: A new tool in acute pancreatitis severity assessment?

World J Clin Cases. 2021 Nov 6;9(31):9395-9405. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i31.9395.

Authors

Bogdan Cucuteanu¹, Dragoş Negru¹, Otilia Gavrilescu², Iolanda Valentina Popa³, Mariana Floria⁴, Cătălina Mihai⁵, Cristina Cijevschi Prelipcean², Mihaela Dranga²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, "Saint Spiridon" Hospital, Iaşi City 700115, Romania.
² Department of Gastroenterology, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, "Saint Spiridon" Hospital, Iaşi City 700115, Romania.
³ Department of Gastroenterology, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iaşi City 700115, Romania.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iaşi City 700115, Romania.
⁵ Department of Gastroenterology, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, "Saint Spiridon" Hospital, Iaşi City 700115, Romania. catalinamihai@yahoo.com.

Abstract

Background: Many scores have been suggested to assess the severity of acute pancreatitis upon onset. The extrapancreatic necrosis volume is a novel, promising score that appears to be superior to other scores investigated so far.

Aim: To evaluate the discriminatory power of extrapancreatic necrosis volume to identify severe cases of acute pancreatitis.

Methods: A total of 123 patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis at Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Spiridon Hospital between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. Pancreatitis was classified according to the revised Atlanta classification (rAC) as mild, moderate, or severe. Severity was also evaluated by computed tomography and classified according to the computed tomography severity index (CTSI) and the modified CTSI (mCTSI). The results were compared with the extrapancreatic volume necrosis to establish the sensitivity and specificity of each method.

Results: The CTSI and mCTSI imaging scores and the extrapancreatic necrosis volume were highly correlated with the severity of pancreatitis estimated by the rAC (r = 0.926, P < 0.001 and r = 0.950, P < 0.001; r = 0.784, P < 0.001, respectively). The correlation of C-reactive protein with severity was positive but not as strong, and was not significant (r = 0.133, P = 0.154). The best predictor for the assessment of severe pancreatitis was the extrapancreatic necrosis volume [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.993; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.981-1.005], with a 99.5% sensitivity and 99.0% specificity at a cutoff value of 167 mL, followed by the mCTSI 2007 score (AUC = 0.972; 95%CI: 0.946-0.999), with a 98.0% sensitivity and 96.5% specificity, and the CTSI 1990 score (AUC = 0.969; 95%CI: 0.941-0.998), with a 97.0% sensitivity and 95.0% specificity.

Conclusion: Radiological severity scores correlate strongly and positively with disease activity. Extrapancreatic necrosis volume shows the best diagnostic accuracy for severe cases.

Keywords: Acute pancreatitis; Computed tomography index; Extrapancreatic necrosis volume; Modified computed tomography index C-reactive protein; Severity score.