Background: Acute pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas with variable outcomes depending on its severity. Multiple systems of prediction have been proposed, each with variable specificity and sensitivity and with uneven clinical use. Ferritin is a versatile protein associated with various acute and chronic conditions.
Aims: In our study, we aimed to assess the association of serum ferritin and the ferritin-to-hemoglobin ratio (FHR) with the severity of acute pancreatitis.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in our hospital from January 2020 to September 2022 and included 116 patients with acute pancreatitis (graded according to the revised Atlanta classification). Serum ferritin and FHR were determined next to established laboratory parameters in the first 24 h following admission (hematological parameters, amylase, lipase, C-reactive protein, D-dimers, lactate dehydrogenase). We performed a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for potential predictors. Also, we made correlations and conducted univariate and multivariate analyses for all potential severity biomarkers.
Results: The median values of serum ferritin and FHR differed significantly between patients with severe acute pancreatitis and mild cases (serum ferritin: 352.40 vs. 197.35 ng/mL, p = 0.011; FHR: 23.73 vs. 13.74, p = 0.002) and between patients with organ failure and those without organ failure (serum ferritin: 613.45 vs. 279.65 ng/mL, p = 0.000; FHR: 48.12 vs. 18.64, p = 0.000). The medians of the serum ferritin and FHR levels were significantly higher in non-survivors compared with survivors (serum ferritin: 717.71 vs. 305.67 ng/mL, p = 0.013; FHR: 52.73 vs. 19.58, p = 0.016). Serum ferritin and FHR were good predictors for organ failure and mortality, next to D-dimers and procalcitonin (AUC > 0.753 for organ failure and AUC > 0.794 for mortality). In univariate regression analysis, serum ferritin and FHR were independent variables for moderate-severe forms of acute pancreatitis. Still, adjusting the multivariate analysis, only FHR remained a significant predictor. The cut-offs for serum ferritin and FHR for predicting organ failure were 437.81 ng/mL (sensitivity, 71%; specificity, 75%) and 45.63 (sensitivity, 61%; specificity, 88%), and those for mortality during hospitalization were 516 ng/mL (sensitivity, 83%; specificity, 74%) and 51.58 (sensitivity, 66%; specificity, 86%).
Conclusions: Serum ferritin and the ferritin-to-hemoglobin ratio stood out in this study as valuable and accessible predictors of disease severity in the early assessment of acute pancreatitis, next to established severity serum markers (CRP, fibrinogen, D-dimers).
Keywords: acute pancreatitis; acute pancreatitis mortality; acute pancreatitis severity; ferritin; ferritin-to-hemoglobin ratio; revised Atlanta classification.