Imaging diagnosis of acute pancreatitis

Treatment of patients with acute pancreatitis is based on the initial assessment of disease severity. Severe pancreatitis occurs in 20-30 % of all patients with acute pancreatitis. Early staging is based on the presence and degree of systemic failure (cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal) and on the presence and extent of pancreatic necrosis. Individual laboratory indexes (markers of pancreatic injury, markers of inflammatory response), while promising, have not yet gained clinical acceptance. Contrast material-enhanced computed tomography is used in addition to help evaluate local pancreatic morphology and the presence and extent of pancreatic necrosis (author)