This shows that the sensitivity of dual testing above the threshold level is 93%, which is only marginally better than the 91% achieved by lipase as a single test.
The data showed that dual testing of lipase and amylase produced a sensitivity of 93% for AP at three times the ULN, which is an improvement of only 2% over lipase as a single test, a marginal gain achieved at double the cost.
Measurements of the activity of both lipase (triacylglycerolacylhydrolase, EC 3.1.1.3) and a-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) in serum are commonly used as aids in the diagnosis and follow-up of acute and recurrent pancreatitis (1); 19% of pancreatitic patients present with normal serum amylase (2), thus leaving lipase as the main hematochemical marker of this disease in a substantial number of patients.
(5) reported on a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patient with major lipase activity (up to seven times the upper reference value), with no parallel increase in amylase; in this case, the authors demonstrated a specific immunoglobulin G with high affinity for lipase as the cause of increased serum lipase activity.