Pancreas
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The pathophysiology of severe acute pancreatitis (AP) resembles other conditions with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) such as sepsis predisposing to remote organ failure. Because extracellular phospholipases A2 (PLA2) have been implicated in AP, their serum concentrations were analyzed with respect to SIRS and systemic complications in patients with severe AP. The serum samples were collected daily for 12 days in 57 patients with severe AP. ⋯ Early systemic complications of severe AP are associated with SIRS with increasing frequency as the number of positive SIRS criteria increases. Group II PLA2 but not group I PLA2 may have pathophysiologic importance in severe AP-associated SIRS. Increasing serum concentration of group II PLA2 seems to reflect the ongoing systemic inflammation in severe AP-associated SIRS.