THE PANC 3 SCORE PREDICTING SEVERITY OF ACUTE PANCREATITIS.
BACKGROUND
About 20% of cases of acute pancreatitis progress to a severe form, leading to high mortality rates. Several studies suggested methods to identify patients that will progress more severely. However, most studies present problems when used on daily practice.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the efficacy of the PANC 3 score to predict acute pancreatitis severity and its relation to clinical outcome.


METHODS
Acute pancreatitis patients were assessed as to sex, age, body mass index (BMI), etiology of pancreatitis, intensive care need, length of stay, length of stay in intensive care unit and mortality. The PANC 3 score was determined within the first 24 hours after diagnosis and compared to acute pancreatitis grade of the Revised Atlanta classification.


RESULTS
Out of 64 patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, 58 met the inclusion criteria. The PANC 3 score was positive in five cases (8.6%), pancreatitis progressed to a severe form in 10 cases (17.2%) and five patients (8.6%) died. Patients with a positive score and severe pancreatitis required intensive care more often, and stayed for a longer period in intensive care units. The PANC 3 score showed sensitivity of 50%, specificity of 100%, accuracy of 91.4%, positive predictive value of 100% and negative predictive value of 90.6% in prediction of severe acute pancreatitis.


CONCLUSIONS
The PANC 3 score is useful to assess acute pancreatitis because it is easy and quick to use, has high specificity, high accuracy and high predictive value in prediction of severe acute pancreatitis.
Hospital Regional de São José Dr. Homero de Miranda Gomes, São José, SC, Brazil.
Murilo Gamba
MG
Beduschi
Hospital Regional de São José Dr. Homero de Miranda Gomes, São José, SC, Brazil.
André Luiz Parizi
AL
Mello
Hospital Regional de São José Dr. Homero de Miranda Gomes, São José, SC, Brazil.
Bruno
B
VON-Mühlen
Hospital Regional de São José Dr. Homero de Miranda Gomes, São José, SC, Brazil.
Orli
O
Franzon
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult